The Pakistani-American who has confessed to trying to blow up a car bomb in New York's Times Square was only caught 'at the last second', authorities have admitted.In scenes that could have come straight from a Hollywood film, Faisal Shahzad managed to give authorities the slip and board a flight out of the U.S. He was actually belted into his seat, the Emirates flight to Dubai on the runway waiting for take-off, when federal agents managed to stop the plane.
'I was expecting you. Are you NYPD or FBI?' Newsweek claimed he said as he was arrested.
Despite the best efforts of highly trained investigators armed with the most advanced technology in the world, two simple security failings appear to have allowed Shahzad to come within minutes of escape.
First, he gave investigators tailing him since 3pm on Monday the slip. Authorities believe he decided to flee after being spooked by news reports that investigators were seeking a Pakistani suspect in Connecticut.
| Brilliant -- make sure everyone, including the perps, knows how hard you're working to crack the case by broadcasting all your leads on the networks ... |
Second, Emirates officials - unaware that he had been placed on a no-fly list - did not check the Web forum where the latest updates are posted in the minutes before take-off.
It was only thanks to a vigilant customs agent who spotted Shahzad's name on the flight manifest just 30 minutes before take-off that authorities knew he was on board the plane.
The Obama administration played down that Shahzad had made it aboard the plane. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano would not talk about it, other than to say Customs officials prevented the plane from taking off. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the security system has fallback procedures in place for times like this, and they worked.
And Attorney General Eric Holder said he 'was never in any fear that we were in danger of losing him'.
The no-fly list is supposed to mean just that. And Shahzad's name was added to the list early Monday afternoon as a result of breaking developments in the investigation.
When Emirates sold the ticket, it was working off an outdated list. Airline officials would have had to check a Web forum where updates are sent if it were to have flagged him.
Because they did not, law enforcement officials were not aware of his travel plans until they received the passenger list 30 minutes before take-off. By that time, passengers usually are on board.
Gibbs blamed the airline
| of course he did |
'There's a series of built-in redundancies, this being one of them,' Gibbs said. 'If there's a mistake by a carrier, it can be double-checked.'
The list is only as good as the nation's intelligence and the experts who analyse it.