Jasper Schuringa, Dutchman who subdued bomber on Flight 253, recalls moment
28 12 09 From the New York Daily News:First came a popping noise. Then, Dutch filmmaker Jasper Schuringa saw smoke rising from several seats away inside Northwest Flight 253. In a flash, Schuringa climbed over the seats and pounced on a terrorist, who was in flames and trying to blow up the plane over Detroit. "I didn't think," Schuringa said Saturday. "I just went over there to try to save the plane."
"When I saw the suspect, that he was getting on fire, I freaked," Schuringa said. "Without any hesitation, I just jumped over all the seats." Chaos erupted as the flying Dutchman grabbed the fiery suspect and frantically searched him for explosives. "I took some kind of object that was already melting and smoking out of him," Schuringa said. "He put something on fire that was hidden in his pants." Schuringa said a liquidy substance dripped onto the floor, causing two pillows to go up in flames. Nearby passengers screamed and scattered as crew members rushed to retrieve fire extinguishers. "It went very quick," Schuringa said. "We were all just reacting to the fire. Everyone was panicking."
"I grabbed the suspect out of the seat because if he was wearing any more explosives, it would be very dangerous," Schuringa said. "We took him to first class ... stripped him and contained him to make sure he had no more weapons, no more bombs." Schuringa said that throughout the terrifying plane ordeal, Abdulmutallab appeared to be "in a trance." "He was staring into nothing," Schuringa said. "The whole plane was screaming, but the suspect, he didn't say a word." When Schuringa rose to leave the jet, his fellow passengers broke out in applause. Still, Schuringa said he was not the only one who deserved credit for saving the jet. "A lot of people were trying to help," said Schuringa, who was flying to the U.S. for a vacation in Miami. "We had very brave flight attendants. They're also heroes."
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