Times Square Car-Bomb Suspect Nearly Escaped Due to No-Fly-List Flaw
A suspect in a failed car-bombing attempt in New York City’s Times Square had actually boarded a plane about to take off for Dubai before he was arrested because of a flaw in the no-fly-list process.
Although Faisal Shahzad had been put on the list more than 10 hours earlier, the Emirates airline hadn’t updated its version and hence didn’t show him as a prohibited passenger, reports the New York Daily News, based in part on information from unidentified officials.
The White House confirmed that Shahzad was arrested only because a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer noticed the suspect’s name on a final check of the manifest for the flight out of John F. Kennedy International Airport, the newspaper says.
Additional coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Criminal Complaint Filed Against Times Square Bombing Suspect”
Mouth of the Potomac (New York Daily News): “Targeting the No-Fly Loophole”
Washington Post: “U.S. tightens no-fly rules after suspect in failed Times Square attack succeeds in boarding plane”
