ATC Watcher, some additional details on 'ShoeMan' or the SneakerBomber as he is sometimes referred to on this side of the pond.
1.) Shoeman's passport had expired, and the British consulate in Brussels issued him a new one. The expired one was stapled to the back of the new, so it was apparently never lost. On examination of the expired passport, there are visa stamps for Israel and Pakistan, and several pages are torn out (which suggests he wanted to hide some of his travels from someone at some point). (More on the Isreal trip below.)
2.) The news reports on this side of the pond have consistently stated that ha had a one-way ticket purchased with cash. There have been no reports on whether the final destination on the ticket read Antigua or Miami. (I suspect that a one-way ticket from Paris to Antigua/Miami over this holiday period would not have been cheap.)
3.) Shoeman apparently had no fixed address, and the indication is that he had no job (if one sought to verify employment with an employer). However, he was well-traveled.
4.) His only luggage was a backpack. When questioned why he had no luggage, his reply was that he had clothing in Antigua, his purported ultimate destination.
5.) French police questioned him extensively, so much so that he missed his original flight. Supposedly, the questioning continued at the 4-star hotel where American paid for his lodging. There was apparently never any physical search of his shoes or clothing. There is no indication that matches were found in any search of his backpack.
6.) American's security contractor at CDG supposedly raised concerns about Shoeman when he appeared for check-in for both flights. Supposedly, at the time of check-in for the second flight, one or more of the CDG security
screeners recognized him from the day before but gave him a perfunctory wave-through this time.
7.) Shoeman traveled on El Al to Israel in July 2001. El Al security remembers him well. He supposedly fit the profile of a terrorist or potential terrorist so perfectly that they subjected him to an extensive search, including removing his shoes and scrutinizing them, before boarding him. Evan after finding nothing remiss, El Al security remained sufficiently suspicious that they sat him at the back of the cabin and sat an armed sky marshal next to him.
8.) After spending some days in Israel, Shoeman apparently transited to Egypt through Gaza. In recent weeks, he was in Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. Supposedly, the high-top sneakers he was wearing were bought in Amsterdam. (Given his height, it may be that sneakers of this type that would fit him could be more readily found there.)
9.) There is no indication that the flight crew on either American flight were alerted to any suspicions security had about Shoeman. On the flight he boarded, a woman passenger was in an adjacent seat in his row, and he did not try to light the fusing to the explosive until she had left her seat. (As an aside, this is one instance in which the no smoking prohibition may have saved an airplane and all souls on board.)
10.) The explosive was supposedly glued beneath the undersole in each sneaker. So not readily detected by a visual scan.
11.) More critically, the explosive in the sneakers was TATP, not PETN or Semtex or C-4 as earlier reported by some American news media. TATP can easily be made in a kitchen using easily obtained materials. Supposedly, it is the favored explosive of marijuana farmers, who boobytrap their plantations with it. And which is why the FBI has characterized the bombs as homemade or improvised. [Several newspapers continue to report on December 29th that PETN (Primacord) was also present in the shoes. However, the FBI in the magistrate's hearing identified only TATP as the explosive device, and further opined that to blow open the fuselage skin, the explosive would have had to been set off in a window seat. (Shoeman was assigned a window seat.) The amount of explosive in each shoe was given as 4-5 ounces, but how much of that weight is inert ingredients (for molding) has not been indicated.]
12.) TATP is highly unstable, and may readily explode prematurely. None of the basic ingredients of TATP are nitrate based, so bomb screening based on detection of nitrates might not have found the explosive.
13.) There are reports that Shoeman had bad body odor. Whether this was from not bathing or not changing his clothes is unclear. However, he did stay overnight in a 4-star hotel which, by classification, has more than adequate plumbing to wash and bathe. (One can speculate that the body odor was deliberate, perhaps to mask any odor from the TATP. One TATP ingredient has a sweet odor.)
14.) Kudoes to the cabin crew of AA 63!!! They not only saved their flight, but perhaps their airline as well. Given what is now known about Shoeman and his travels and his profile, the American tort bar could have potentially financially crippled AA with punitive damages. Unlikely this time around, given the circumstances, that Congress would have indemnified AA for this terrorist action as was done for September 11.
15.) The magistrate hearing in Boston on December 28 had the effect on detaining ShoeMan in prison until trial. Additional charges will quite likely be brought, including the attempted murder of all on board. The FBI's main effort at this point is in identifying who aided Shoeman, which would then lead to additional charges of conspiracy and the indictment of one or more co-conspirators.
16.) In response to an earlier post, the flight was diverted to Boston once Shoeman was sedated and the crew assured themselves there was no other accomplice on-board. (One can assume the passenger list for the original flight is being carefully checked.) Diverting to Canada would only mean delay in investigating Shoeman because he would have to be exttadited to the US. A diversion to Boston rather than Bangor was likely the mutual preference of the FBI, because there is a much larger FBI staff in Boston, and AA, which has a large station at BOS.
[ 29 December 2001: Message edited by: SaturnV ]</p>