American Airlines Flight 63 (2001)

Failed act of terrorism "Shoe bomb" redirects here. For the perpetrator, see Richard Reid. For other notable American Airlines flights sharing the same designation, see American Airlines Flight 63.

American Airlines Flight 63 bombing attempt

Richard Reid's shoes

Location

Airborne, between Paris, France and Miami, U.S.

Date

December 22, 2001; 23 years ago (2001-12-22)

Target

Civilian airliner

Attack type

Attempted suicide bombing

Weapon

Improvised explosive device concealed in shoe

Deaths

Injured

Perpetrator

al-Qaeda

Assailant

Richard Reid

Motive

Islamist terrorism through suicide bombing

Convictions

8 Counts of terrorism

American Airlines Flight 63
Bombing attempt
N384AA, the aircraft involved, 11 years after the incident
Date	December 22, 2001
Summary	After bomb failed to detonate properly, flight performed an emergency diversion to Boston and landed safely
Site	Airborne, between Paris and Miami
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 767-300ER
Operator	American Airlines
IATA flight No.	AA63
ICAO flight No.	AAL63
Call sign	American 63
Registration	N384AA
Flight origin	Charles de Gaulle Airport
Destination	Miami International Airport
Occupants	197
Passengers	185
Crew	12
Fatalities	0
Injuries	1
Survivors	All

On December 22, 2001, a failed shoe bombing attempt occurred aboard American Airlines Flight 63. The aircraft, a Boeing 767-300ER (registration N384AA) with 197 passengers and crew aboard, was flying from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France, to Miami International Airport in the U.S. state of Florida.

The perpetrator, Richard Reid, was subdued by passengers after unsuccessfully attempting to detonate plastic explosives concealed within his shoes. The flight was diverted to Logan International Airport in Boston, escorted by American jet fighters, and landed without further incident. Reid was arrested and eventually sentenced to three life terms plus 110 years, without parole.

Incident

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As Flight 63 was flying over the Atlantic Ocean, Richard Reid, an Islamic fundamentalist from the United Kingdom and self-proclaimed al-Qaeda operative, carried shoes that were packed with two types of explosives. He had been refused permission to board the flight the day before.

Passengers on the flight complained of a smoky smell shortly after the meal service. One flight attendant, Hermis Moutardier, walked the aisles of the plane to locate the source. She found Reid sitting alone near a window, attempting to light a match. Moutardier warned him that smoking was not allowed on board the aircraft, and Reid promised to stop.

A few minutes later, Moutardier found Reid leaning over in his seat and unsuccessfully attempted to get his attention. After she asked him what he was doing, Reid grabbed at her, revealing one shoe in his lap, a fuse leading into the shoe, and a lit match. He was unable to detonate the bomb: perspiration from his feet dampened the triacetone triperoxide (TATP) and prevented it from igniting.

Moutardier tried grabbing Reid twice, but he pushed her to the floor each time, and she screamed for help. When another flight attendant, Cristina Jones, arrived to try to subdue Reid, he fought her and bit her thumb.

The 6-foot-4-inch-tall (1.93 m) Reid, who weighed 215 pounds (98 kg), was subdued by the flight attendants and other passengers and immobilized by the cabin crew using plastic handcuffs, seatbelt extensions, and headphone cords. A doctor administered diazepam found in the flight kit of the aircraft. Many of the passengers only became aware of the situation when the pilot announced that the flight was to be diverted to Logan International Airport in Boston.

Two F-15 fighter jets escorted Flight 63 to Logan Airport. The plane parked in the middle of the runway, and Reid was arrested on the ground while the rest of the passengers were bused to the main terminal. Authorities later found over 280 grams (10 ounces) of TATP and pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) hidden in the hollowed soles of Reid's shoes, which, if detonated, would have blown a significant hole in the aircraft and likely caused it to crash. He pleaded guilty, and he was convicted, sentenced to three life terms plus 110 years without parole and incarcerated at ADX Florence, a supermax federal prison in Colorado.

Aftermath

Six months after the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 in Queens, New York, on November 12, 2001, Mohammed Mansour Jabarah agreed to cooperate with American authorities in exchange for a reduced sentence. He said that fellow Canadian Abderraouf Jdey had been responsible for the flight's destruction, using a shoe bomb similar to that found on Reid several months earlier. However, it was revealed during the crash investigation that pilot error, not terrorism, brought down the plane. Jabarah was a known colleague of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and said that Reid and Jdey had both been enlisted by the al-Qaeda chief to participate in identical plots.

In 2006, security procedures at American airports were changed in response to this incident, with passengers required to remove their shoes before proceeding through scanners. The requirement was phased out for some travelers, particularly those with TSA PreCheck, in 2011. Also in 2011, the rules were relaxed to allow children 12 and younger and adults 75 and older to keep their shoes on during security screenings.

References

"FAA Registry (N384AA)". Federal Aviation Administration.
^ Thomas, Cathy Booth (September 1, 2002). "Courage in the Air". Time. Archived from the original on June 4, 2010. Retrieved December 28, 2009.
Belluck, Pam Belluck; McNeil Jr, Donald G. (December 25, 2001). "A NATION CHALLENGED: THE SUSPECT; Officials Remain Uncertain On Identity of Suspect on Jet". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
^ "Shoe bomb suspect to remain in custody". CNN. December 25, 2001. Archived from the original on April 4, 2002. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
"Terrorist Use Of TATP Explosive". Opensourcesinfo.org. July 25, 2005. Archived from the original on July 17, 2010. Retrieved January 18, 2010.
"U.S. v. Reid Complaint" (PDF). United States district court. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 1, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2010 – via Nine Eleven Finding Answers Foundation.
https://www.fbi.gov/history/artifacts/richard-reids-shoes
Mili, Hayder (July 28, 2005). "Securing the Northern Front: Canada and the War on Terror" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 16, 2008. Retrieved November 14, 2008.
Ressa, Maria (December 6, 2003). "Sources:Reid is al Qaeda operative". CNN. Archived from the original on January 4, 2007. Retrieved September 15, 2006.
"TSA Travel Assistant". Tsa.gov. Transportation Security Administration. September 26, 2006. Archived from the original on May 11, 2011. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
O'Keefe, Ed; Halsey III, Ashley (September 6, 2011). "Shoe removal requirement at airports to be phased out". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
Hilkevitch, Jon (October 9, 2011). "TSA: Children pose little risk, can keep shoes on during security check". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 13, 2020.

American Airlines

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American Airlines	Flight 1 1941 1962 Flight 2 Flight 009 Flight 11 Flight 28 Flight 63 July 1943 October 1943 December 2001 Flight 77 Flight 96 Flight 102 Flight 157 Flight 182 Flight 191 Flight 293 Flight 320 Flight 327 Flight 331 Flight 383 1965 2016 Flight 444 Flight 476 Flight 514 Flight 587 Flight 625 Flight 711 Flight 723 Flight 910 Flight 924 Flight 965 Flight 1420 Flight 1502 Flight 1572 Flight 6001 Flight 6780
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People

Organizations

Allied Pilots Association
Association of Professional Flight Attendants
TWU-IAM Association
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Category

War on terror

September 11 attacks
War in Afghanistan (2001-2021) (Withdrawal)
Iraq War (2003–2011) (Withdrawal)

Participants

Operational

Targets

Individuals	Osama bin Laden Hamza bin Laden Anwar al-Awlaki Sirajuddin Haqqani Jalaluddin Haqqani Anas Haqqani Khalil Haqqani Hafiz Saeed Mahmoud Mohamed Ahmed Bahaziq Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Factions	al-Qaeda al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Abu Sayyaf Al-Shabaab Boko Haram Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami Hizbul Mujahideen Islamic Courts Union Jaish-e-Mohammed Jemaah Islamiyah Lashkar-e-Taiba Taliban Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan Islamic State

Conflicts

Operation Enduring Freedom	War in Afghanistan OEF – Philippines Georgia Train and Equip Program Georgia Sustainment and Stability OEF – Horn of Africa OEF – Trans Sahara Drone strikes in Pakistan
Other	Operation Active Endeavour Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present) Insurgency in the North Caucasus Moro conflict in the Philippines Iraq War Iraqi insurgency Operation Linda Nchi Terrorism in Saudi Arabia Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa War in Somalia (2006–2009) 2007 Lebanon conflict al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen

Policies

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 2001 (2001)
Jan 23 Yemenia Flight 448Jan 25 RUTACA Airlines Flight 225Jan 27 Omsk An-70 crashJan 27 Oklahoma State basketball team crashJan 31 Japan Airlines mid-air incidentFeb 7 Iberia Flight 1456Feb 27 Loganair Flight 670AMar 3 Thai Airways International Flight 114Mar 15 Vnukovo Airlines Flight 2806Mar 24 Air Caraïbes Flight 1501Mar 29 Avjet Gulfstream III crashApr 1 Hainan Island incidentApr 20 Peru shootdownMay 17 Faraz Qeshm Airlines Yak-40 crashJul 4 Vladivostok Air Flight 352Aug 24 Air Transat Flight 236Aug 25 Marsh Harbour Cessna 402 crashAug 29 Binter Mediterráneo Flight 8261Sep 11 American Airlines Flight 11Sep 11 United Airlines Flight 175Sep 11 American Airlines Flight 77Sep 11 United Airlines Flight 93Sep 11 Delta Air Lines Flight 1989Sep 11 Korean Air Flight 085Sep 15 TAM Airlines Flight 9755Sep 17 Grozny Mi-8 crashSep 21 Aeroflot Flight 521Oct 4 Siberia Airlines Flight 1812Oct 8 2001 Linate Airport runway collisionOct 10 Flightline Flight 101Nov 12 American Airlines Flight 587Nov 12 Fishtail Air Eurocopter AS350 crashNov 19 IRS Aero Flight 9601/02Nov 24 Crossair Flight 3597Dec 2 AFRF Flight 9064Dec 22 American Airlines Flight 63
2000 ◄ ► 2002

Aviation accidents and incidents in 2001 (2001)

Jan 23 Yemenia Flight 448Jan 25 RUTACA Airlines Flight 225Jan 27 Omsk An-70 crashJan 27 Oklahoma State basketball team crashJan 31 Japan Airlines mid-air incidentFeb 7 Iberia Flight 1456Feb 27 Loganair Flight 670AMar 3 Thai Airways International Flight 114Mar 15 Vnukovo Airlines Flight 2806Mar 24 Air Caraïbes Flight 1501Mar 29 Avjet Gulfstream III crashApr 1 Hainan Island incidentApr 20 Peru shootdownMay 17 Faraz Qeshm Airlines Yak-40 crashJul 4 Vladivostok Air Flight 352Aug 24 Air Transat Flight 236Aug 25 Marsh Harbour Cessna 402 crashAug 29 Binter Mediterráneo Flight 8261Sep 11 American Airlines Flight 11Sep 11 United Airlines Flight 175Sep 11 American Airlines Flight 77Sep 11 United Airlines Flight 93Sep 11 Delta Air Lines Flight 1989Sep 11 Korean Air Flight 085Sep 15 TAM Airlines Flight 9755Sep 17 Grozny Mi-8 crashSep 21 Aeroflot Flight 521Oct 4 Siberia Airlines Flight 1812Oct 8 2001 Linate Airport runway collisionOct 10 Flightline Flight 101Nov 12 American Airlines Flight 587Nov 12 Fishtail Air Eurocopter AS350 crashNov 19 IRS Aero Flight 9601/02Nov 24 Crossair Flight 3597Dec 2 AFRF Flight 9064Dec 22 American Airlines Flight 63

2000 ◄ ► 2002

v t e Al-Muhajiroun
People	Omar Bakri Muhammad Abu Hamza al-Masri Anjem Choudary Abu Izzadeen Abu Uzair Abdul Rahman Saleem Sulayman Keeler Sajeel Shahid Mohammed Junaid Babar Zacarias Moussaoui Richard Reid Kamel Bourgass Mizanur Rahman Omar Khyam Umran Javed Anthony Small Khalid Kelly Michael Adebolajo Michael Adebowale Khuram Butt Siddhartha Dhar Usman Khan
Events	2001 shoe bomb attempt Wood Green ricin plot Murder of Stephen Oake Mike's Place suicide bombing Operation Crevice 2006 Danish Embassy demonstration 2006 Cheetham Hill terrorism arrests "Muslim patrols" Murder of Lee Rigby 2017 London Bridge attack 2019 London Bridge stabbing
Associates	Islamic Thinkers Society
General	Terrorism in the United Kingdom Islamic terrorism in Europe Global caliphate Islamism Hizb ut-Tahrir (Britain) Al-Qaeda Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant "Londonistan" Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 Terrorism Act 2006 CONTEST Hope not Hate (critic) Quilliam (critic) English Defence League (founded in opposition)

External links

Bomb on Flight 63 Telegraph Media Group Limited 2015

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