Air Emergency (2003–…): Season 3, Episode 6 - Bomb on Board - full transcript

(SUDDEN EXPLOSION)

A deadly explosion rocks an airliner
flying at 10,000 metres.

A bomb has exploded on board.

Bravo Oscar Mike Bravo.

The blast kills a passenger
and cripples the plane.

The crew struggles to save 293 lives.

(CAMERA CLICKS)

The bombing sets in motion
an international manhunt.

POLICE: Stop!

While the terrorist...

(WATCH BEEPS)



..prepares to strike again.

(OVERLAPPING SOUNDS OF VOICES,
JETS ROARING AND SIRENS)

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

On December the 11th, 1994,

Philippine Airlines Flight 434
is 2 hours into their second leg

of a routine flight
from Manila to Tokyo.

An unsuspecting passenger is sitting
on a ticking bomb.

(EXPLOSION)

The explosion on board cripples
the flight control system.

Unless the pilot can regain control,

the jumbo jet may crash into
the Pacific Ocean.

(SCREAMING)

CAPTAIN REYES: This is Philippine
Airlines Flight 434.

A bomb has exploded onboard.



Bravo Oscar Mike Bravo.

The bombing is a frightening new
development by a terrorist

on the cutting edge of science.

The way that the timing device
was hidden inside the Casio watch

made the whole thing very
concealable and very worrisome.

But this is more than the hunt
for a terrorist bomber.

This is the story of how
investigators

make a shocking discovery.

The explosion on PAL 434

is only a test for an attack
on American carriers.

An attack that would dwarf every
other terrorist atrocity at the time.

It's before sunrise
on December the 11th, 1994.

While most inhabitants of this city
of a million and a half

have a few more hours to sleep,

26 year old Amaldo Forlani
makes an early start.

(ALARM GOES OFF)

Forlani is not his real name.

it's the alias he's chosen
for today's mission.

He's actually from Pakistan,
not Italy.

He is putting his latest invention
through an important test.

Everything must go like clockwork.

In his line of work
there's no room for error.

He is a highly skilled
terrorist bomb builder.

He packs the liquid explosive bomb
very carefully.

He arrives in plenty of time

for his 5am flight
with Philippine Airlines.

Before he can board,

the bomber must outwit airport
security screening procedures.

He has designed the components of
his bomb to pass undetected by x-ray

and metal detection equipment.

Or so he hopes.

(TWO SOFT BEEPS)

He bought the ticket
as Amaldo Forlani.

He is a skilled forger

and he has made himself a fake
Italian passport with that identity.

If his cover is blown, his career as
a globe-trotting terrorist is over.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Having successfully got the bomb
through airport security,

he boards his Philippine
Airlines flight.

The final destination of PAL 434
is Tokyo.

But there is a stopover in
the Philippine resort town of Cebu,

over 550 kilometres to the south
of Manila.

This is as far as the bomber
is flying today.

That's 10,000 feet,
and weather's still looking clear.

Thanks.

I'm engaging autopilot.

(SIGN BEEPS)

REYES ON PA:
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,

this is your captain
Ed Reyes speaking.

Welcome aboard Flight 434,

flying south from Manila to Cebu,

and continuing onwards to
Narita Airport, Tokyo.

Flight 434 is under the command of
Captain Ed Reyes,

a former Air Force pilot

who has been flying for Philippine
Airlines for 9 years.

Our estimated arrival time is now...

The first leg of the flight
is fairly empty.

Passengers are scattered around
the jumbo jet's 400 seats.

After takeoff,
the bomber is able to move.

He chooses seat 26K -

located directly over the centre
fuel tank in some 747's.

The cabin is tended by Stewardess
Maria de la Cruz.

She flies domestic routes

and has worked for Philippine
Airlines for one year.

Can I get you some juice or coffee?

Juice, please.

Now the bomber must find
a vacant lavatory

to assemble the explosive device.

Arming the bomb only takes minutes
but requires total concentration.

The final step is setting the timer

so it will explode in 4 hours' time,
long after he leaves the plane.

He hides the bomb in the life jacket
pocket underneath his seat.

He then changes seats.

When she returns, Maria de la Cruz
notices that the roving passenger

has moved seats again.

She will remember that he left
his breakfast untouched,

and that the rest of the flight
passed uneventfully.

As Philippine Airlines Flight 434
begins its final approach into Cebu,

more passengers are getting ready
to board the aircraft

that will take them onwards to Tokyo.

(SIGN BEEPS)

REYES ON P.A.:
Cabin crew prepare for landing.

Cabin doors to automatic.

PAL 434 lands in Cebu at 6.50am.

and several of the passengers
disembark,

including the terrorist
with the alias Amaldo Forlani.

Bye-bye, thank you.

Maria de la Cruz will also leave
Flight 434.

A new cabin crew will take over for
the 4.5 hour flight to Tokyo.

256 new passengers board the 747
that arrived from Manila.

Many of the passengers in this cabin
are Japanese.

Among them is 24 year old engineer,
Haruki Ikegami.

He is looking forward to
getting home to Tokyo

after his first trip overseas.

Airport congestion delays
the departure by 38 minutes.

But the timer on the bomb under seat
26K continues to tick.

8.30am, December 11th, 1994,

all passengers for Philippine
Airlines Flight 434

are now onboard for the leg to Tokyo.

None of them is aware that
2 hours earlier,

a terrorist planted a time bomb
under one of their seats.

Steward Fernando Bayot is assisting
passengers in the forward cabin

on this 4.5 hour flight.

At 8.38, PAL 434
is cleared for takeoff.

On the flight deck, Captain Ed Reyes
is assisted by First Officer

Jaime Herrera and
Systems Engineer Dexter Comendador.

Reyes and Comendador are both former
air force pilots.

(ENGINE ACCELERATES)

Haruki Ikegami is seated in 26K,

the seat occupied by the bomber,

earlier on the first leg of
Flight 434 from Manila to Cebu.

Several passengers in this cabin
are co-workers,

travelling with a Japanese
tour group,

including Keisuke Aoki
and Masaharu Mochizuki.

TRANSLATOR SPEAKS: After takeoff,
everything seemed normal.

We were flying at 10,000 metres.

I was reading a magazine,
then the meal was served.

After eating I went to sleep.

31 year old Yukihiko Usui stayed up
all night on the last day of his trip

and he's ready to nap after
breakfast.

He's sitting in row 27,

one row behind the seat vacated by
the bomber 4 hours earlier.

REYES ON PA: Ladies and gentlemen,
this is your captain speaking.

It's a beautiful day in Tokyo,
sunny and 26 degrees.

I expect we'll be landing at
Narita Airport in 2 hours' time.

Two hours into the flight,
PAL 434 is cruising on autopilot

10,000 metres above Minami Daito
Island, southern Japan.

To ease the pilots' workload,
the autopilot remains on

throughout the flight,

keeping the aircraft on a constant
heading and altitude.

(WRISTWATCH STARTS BEEPING SOFTLY)

(BEEPING)

(SINGLE, LONG TONE)

(LOUD EXPLOSION)

(PASSENGERS SCREAM)

"God forgive me."

That was my inner, uh, uh, thought,
you know.

"God forgive me."

"I think I'm going to die now.'

Then after that, I have to do
what I had to do.

Oh, I've lost control!

I have control!

Dex, check the pressurization loss.

Be prepared.

Although the autopilot
instantly corrects

the aircraft's bank to the right,
the effect of the blast is not over.

The cabin crew's first priority is to
stop passengers leaving their seats.

Yukihiko Usui is sitting in the row
directly behind the explosion.

Both his legs are badly wounded.

Steward Fernando Bayot moves him
away from the blast site.

(agonised screams)

BAYOT: Give us a blanket here!

(cries out in agony)

Please sit down and
fasten your seatbelts!

(PASSENGERS GROANING)

Bayot now turns his attention to
Haruki Ikegami.

He is swallowed by the smoking hole
where seat 26K used to be.

FERNANDO BAYOT: I saw this man.

Only his head and his arms
were peering out of the hole

so I tried to, uh, pull him out.

After the struggle to lift him out,
Bayot realizes that part of

the lower half of Ikegami's body
is missing.

Within a couple of minutes he dies.

(PASSENGERS GROANING & CRYING OUT)

The cabin crew do not want Ikegami's
death to panic passengers,

so they pretend to minister to him.

Bayot then reports to the captain.

Captain!

OK. Keep the passengers calm.

Make sure they stay in their seats.

There's been an explosion in row 26.

One dead and several injured
and the cabin is full of smoke.

There's a hole in the floor.

Inspect the damage, Dex.
Yes, sir.

Reyes' first concern is that
the blast could make a hole

in the aircraft's skin.

This would lead to sudden
depressurisation in the cabin

and necessitate an emergency descent.

DEXTER: There was a huge gaping hole
beside her

and if a small tear in the skin
of the aircraft was...

..if there were a hole there,

it most probably would open up and
then pull us out of the aircraft.

When I saw that there was no damage
to the outer skin,

I went up and reported
to the Captain.

We assumed that the
pressurization system would hold.

(EXPLOSION AND SCREAMING)

Immediately after the explosion,

the co-pilot's steering wheel
slams to the right

and the aircraft banks the same way.

The autopilot immediately corrects
the deviation.

But soon Reyes discovers that
the autopilot steering system

is another victim of the blast.

Then I said, 'Okay, I'm going to try
to turn using the autopilot.'

But there was no reaction,

whether I tried it to make it go
down or up,

or left and right turns,
no reaction.

I said, 'Now, we have a problem.'

This is not Reyes' only problem.

In the cabin,

one of the injured passengers
needs urgent medical attention.

Tokyo is still 2.5 hours away
and Reyes decides to try and land

at Naha Airport
on the island of Okinawa,

located 74 kilometres to the west.

He orders the co-pilot to make
a Mayday call.

Naha. PAL 434.

Heavy, declaring emergency.

Explosion onboard.

We have casualties.

Requesting emergency landing
at Naha.

We will need full emergency services
on landing.

CONTROL TOWER: PAL 434.
Naha, please repeat, say again.

Naha. PAL 434.
Heavy, declaring emergency.

Explosion onboard.
We have casualties.

Request emergency landing...

Getting the Japanese air traffic
controller

to understand the emergency
proves to be difficult.

Naha, Naha, Naha, this is
Philippine Airlines 434.

Flight level, three three zero.
A bomb has exploded onboard.

Bravo Oscar Mike Bravo.

Bomb explosion.

Request emergency landing at Naha.

And there was silence.

Then the controller came in,
another controller, an American.

MAN: OK, Philippine 434,
I'm taking over.

The American air traffic controller
is from an American base on Okinawa.

Turn left, heading...

"No," I shout back,
"We cannot turn at this moment.

We will tell you when we are
starting to turn towards Naha.

We have problems with our flight
controls..."

Ladies and gentlemen,
this is your captain speaking.

We will be making an early landing
at Naha Airport in Okinawa.

We will be landing
as soon as possible.

So please remain in your seat
with your seatbelt fastened.

But landing at Naha
is easier said than done.

The autopilot is not responding to
any of Reyes' commands

and PAL 434 is heading straight past
Okinawa.

Captain Reyes must find a way
to steer

if he is to have any chance of
landing safely.

But disengaging the autopilot
might result in losing

what minimal control he still has
over the aircraft.

OK, let's keep the seatbelt sign on.

When we disengage the autopilot,
we might lose control, so be ready.

Since the autopilot won't react
to any inputs that I make,

I was scared if I disengage
the autopilot,

the aircraft might make a sudden
bank to the right

that we might not be able to
control.

At the count of 3, I'll disengage.

One, 2, 3.

(CLICK)

One, 2, 3, 'tack'!

Nothing happened.

And then, there was...
we were relieved.

I can't turn using the controls.

It looks like the explosion
jammed the ailerons.

Dex, what does the QRH say
about jammed ailerons?

The QRH or Quick Reference Handbook
is the pilot's bible

that lists procedures that must be
followed in emergency situations.

Jammed flight controls -

use maximum force possible
including both pilots if required.

OK, let's force it, then.

(strains)

Reyes tries brute force
to activate the ailerons,

the panels on each wing which turn
the aircraft.

Since the explosion,
he can only fly straight.

I'm not getting anything
from the ailerons.

Can't get off this heading.

OK, re-engage the autopilot
while I work out our options.

It is taking much longer to land
than was announced.

We were told it would only
be 20 minutes,

but it was really one hour
before we landed.

It was very frightening.

Although they survived the bombing,

passengers are now getting anxious
about landing safely at Naha Airport.

AOKI: Since there was so much time
before landing,

I started writing a will.

I wrote the will to my son,
telling him to be strong.

As PAL 434 looks like missing
Naha Airport,

Reyes comes up with another plan.

We've got to turn.

We'll have to use
differential power.

Disengage auto-throttle,
pull back 3 and 4.

Captain Reyes increases thrust
to the engines

on the left-hand side of the plane

and reduces power
to the engines on the right.

Very slowly the aircraft
starts to circle right.

He then lowers his speed to make
a smaller radius turn.

With guidance from Air Traffic
Control, he hopes that the manoeuvre

will eventually line up
with the runway at Naha.

So while we were descending
on low speed,

I tried to test the flight controls

and there are, there are some
little reactions.

The elevator is beginning
to respond.

The elevator is a control that makes
the plane ascend and descend.

250 knots. Flaps, on speed.

In order to land safely, Reyes will
need at least minimal control

over the elevator and rudder.

As PAL 434 nears Naha, he continues
to reduce his air speed.

Flaps 10.

Flaps 10 set, speed 225.

OK, she's turning.

Sir, if we reduce our weight,

we will be able to reduce
our approach speed.

Suggest we dump fuel.

Reyes orders the systems engineer
to dump 36 tonnes of fuel.

Less fuel means less strain on
landing gear and brakes at touchdown.

Check.

As the time to touchdown gets closer,
Reyes worries that the bomb

may have done more, as-yet-unknown,
damage to the aircraft.

I'm not certain our
landing gear will hold up.

Strap yourselves in,
I'll brief the Purser.

DEXTER: So he talked to
the head of the cabin crew

and he said, "We are not sure
if the gears will go down.

And in case the gears collapse while
landing, be ready to evacuate."

Three green, sir.

I'm disconnecting the autopilot
and landing manually, OK?

Dex, monitor my descent rate,
call altitude and speed.

Flaps 30.

OK, 500 feet, on course.
Flaps 30. Set.

Help me with the elevator.

When I say push, push.

OK, 200, slightly left.

Correcting...push!

100.

50.

30.

Power off.
PULL!

(ENGINE ROARS)

Your last command was 'PULL!'

Yeah. My last command was 'PULL!'
(laughs)

(THUDDING AND RATTLING)

I made sure that the throttles
were closed

because he might give a go-around

and I would make sure that we
stayed on the ground!

(QUIET, VICTORIOUS MUSIC)

(MEN BEGIN TO LAUGH)

(APPLAUSE)

(sighs deeply)

Ladies and gentlemen,
this is the captain speaking.

We thank you for your cooperation
and patience.

Emergency crews are on their way.

We will get you out of here
as soon as possible. Thank you.

(SIREN WAILS)

The Philippine Airlines 747
is now a crime scene

under Japanese jurisdiction.

As investigators from the Okinawa
Police Department

set out to solve the mystery
of what happened,

they turn their attention first to
the dead man in seat 26K.

The forensic pathologist
recovered 94 fragments

embedded in Ikegami's buttocks
by the explosion.

He suffered severe internal injuries
and massive loss of blood.

But tragic as it was,

the effects of the explosion
could have been much worse.

TRANSLATOR: If the explosion
had been sideways,

it would have blown a hole
in the plane

and caused an air pressure problem.

In a sense, it was good that
the blast was vertical,

but we have to remember the victim.

He died to save the rest of us.

(EXPLOSION)

Ikegami's body bore the brunt
of the upward blast.

But the explosion severed
the steel cables in the ceiling

that control the rudder and elevator.

The charge also severed
the co-pilot's control cable

to the right aileron, one of
the control surfaces on the wing

which make an aircraft bank and turn.

The downward force blew a hole
in the floor

and could have ignited the vapours
in the centre fuel tank,

creating a catastrophic explosion.

But by chance, on December the 11th,

seat 26K was not located
above the tank.

Fortunately for us,
we took a different version,

the SAS version of the 747 that day.

And that specific seat
for that version

was 2 seats forward
of the centre tank.

The Okinawa forensic investigators
immediately start work

collecting evidence
from the bomb site.

They begin with the largest
fragments of debris

and then systematically work down

until the smallest particles are
retrieved by vacuum cleaner.

(VACUUM CLEANER WHIRS)

Japanese investigators cannot
identify the bomb's detonator.

But by separating out bits of metal,
plastic and electrical wire

that do not belong to the plane,

components of the bomb
are pieced together.

One forensic investigator is able to
identify the bomb's timer.

By reconstituting dozens
of burnt fragments,

he discovers it is a modified
digital wristwatch.

Investigators also discover that
one of the bomb's 9 volt batteries

is only sold in the Philippines.

It's another clue that suggests
the bomber could be based there.

Philippine National Police Deputy
Chief "Sonny" Razon is on the case.

In the later part of 1994,

we already started to receive
information,

intelligence reports that there were
Middle Eastern personalities

that were here already
in the Philippines.

On the night of January 6th, 1995,

almost 4 weeks after the bombing
of PAL 434,

the Philippine police
get a lucky break.

In his Manila apartment, the PAL 434
bomber has enlisted the help

of an accomplice to mass-produce
his new, undetectable bomb.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

(issues urgent instructions)

(shouts in dismay)

An attempt to burn off chemicals
gets out of hand.

Acrid smelling smoke spills out
of the apartment.

It attracts the attention of the
doorman, who comes to investigate.

Hey, what are you doing?

We were playing with fireworks,
but it's OK, we put them out.

We opened the windows,
and we keep the door closed.

You open the door.

If we open the door,
the smoke comes in the hallway.

If we close, it goes out the window.

It's OK, it's OK.

Until the smoke dissipates,

the bombers decide to wait
outside the apartment.

The doorman isn't convinced by
their "playing with fireworks" story

and he calls the fire department
and the police.

(SIRENS BLARE)

By the time the firemen come,
the smoke is gone

and they leave after a quick check.

The bomber now realises he has left a
very sensitive item in the apartment

and he persuades his friend to
retrieve his laptop.

He was too clever a guy
to come back and expose himself.

Because, all along, he knew that
would be too risky for him

to go back and be caught.

The bomber's fear of getting caught
is justified.

Once Police Inspector Aida Fariscal
learns that they are from Pakistan,

she insists on seeing their room
for herself.

The police in Manila
are on high alert

due to a planned visit by the Pope
in a few days.

What Inspector Fariscal finds

confirms her worst fears
about the intentions of the tenants.

(TELEPHONE RINGS)

(calls out)

FERNANDEZ: You! Stop!

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

(GUNFIRE)
(Murad screams)

The shot distracts the apprentice
and he trips over a fallen palm tree.

But the cop discovers
he has no handcuffs.

The doorman improvises with
the drawstrings of his windbreaker.

In the meantime, the bomber vanishes.

One of the first senior officers to
arrive at his apartment

is Sonny Razon.

SONNY RAZON: That incident
at the Don Josefa Apartment

was the breakthrough
in opening our eyes

that, uh, the al-Quaida
terrorist cell

was already operating here
in the Philippines.

The Philippine National Police know
they've stumbled onto something big

and they inform Interpol,
Scotland Yard and the FBI.

When news of the raid

reaches the joint Terrorism
Task Force in New York,

it grabs the attention of FBI
Special Agent Frank Pellegrino.

For 2 years, he has been hunting
a terrorist called Ramzi Yousef

and it looks as if
this might be his man.

Well he was always our focus
since '93.

At the time he was the biggest
fugitive around.

As Philippine police comb through
the apartment,

they begin to find more evidence

tying Yousef to the bombing
of PAL 434.

(CAMERA CLICKS REPEATEDLY)

PELLEGRINO: There was a similarity
between the watches

that were found in the apartment

and the type of watch
that was used in Okinawa.

Putting together that watch...

..that was the watch that was on
the bomb on that Flight 434,

and identifying those pieces
eventually as a Casio watch,

you know, was amazing.

Yousef is a skilled forger.

Investigators find several
identification cards

bearing various names,

and photos, in each of which
he looks quite different.

One ID card is of
particular interest.

PELLEGRINO:
So almost as a dig to us,

the ID card used the first
World Trade Centre bombing date

as the date that the card
was issued,

so we knew right away, it was Yousef
that had been in the apartment.

They knew chemicals.

The chemical dictionary was
a very well-used item,

underlined, highlighted, well read,

notations throughout the book.

Something that he used quite often.

And I don't remember
the exact number,

I think there might have 100
latent prints found on that,

that belonged to him.

They knew electronics.

The way that the timing device
was hidden inside the Casio watch

just made the whole thing very
concealable and very worrisome.

The identification of the bomber
of PAL 434

and the discovery of his bomb factory

is very disturbing news
for those responsible for

airline passenger safety.

Ramzi Yousef is
an international terrorist

who knows how to get his bombs past
airport security.

Bombs that are small,

but if strategically located,
can blow up a jumbo jet

and kill not just one,
but hundreds of people.

And the bomber of PAL 434
is still on the loose.

In September 1992, Yousef flies from
Pakistan to New York

to prepare for a major
terrorist attack.

On arrival at JFK, he presents
a fake Iraqi passport

and asks for political asylum
from Saddam Hussein.

The ploy works and he's allowed
to enter the country.

Six months later,
on February 26th, 1993,

one of the largest homemade bombs
in American history

explodes in the garage below
the World Trade Centre,

killing 6 people, injuring hundreds

and causing $500 million worth
of damage.

That night, Yousef is on a plane back
to his home in Pakistan.

He was an action figure.
He wanted to keep doing things.

He wasn't happy with
the one success he had.

Eighteen months after
the World Trade Centre attack,

Yousef flies to Manila to fine-tune
the bomb he plants on PAL 434.

According to Sonny Razon,
the Philippine capital suits him.

Ramzi Yousef...loved to enjoy life.

He was a...he is a ladies' man.

He associated himself with a lot
of girlfriends

and he liked to party

and he...he also drank a lot.

He enjoyed the life.

Terrorists, they are your normal
day-to-day people,

the guy next door.

After the bombing of PAL 434,

Yousef arranges for his childhood
friend, Abdul Hakim Murad,

to assist him in Manila.

But on January the 6th, 1995,
2 weeks after his arrival,

Murad is arrested and sent to
Philippine Police Headquarters

for interrogation.

Tiny chemical traces of the explosive
were found on PAL 434.

Murad eventually admits that Yousef
uses liquid nitro-glycerine that he

has stabilised and concealed in
a bottle of contact lens solution.

Murad also reveals that Yousef
hid the bomb's

potentially suspicious components
in the heel of his shoes.

Most airport security systems only
detect metal above the ankles.

PELLEGRINO: I bet he was
as cool as can be.

He was somewhat cavalier
in his attitude

towards these explosives
and chemicals.

To carry a container of
nitro-glycerine on an airplane,

you know, you gotta be
a little nuts.

Murad's confession provides details
of Yousef's actions

after he successfully got the bomb
components past airport security.

Can I get you some juice or coffee?

Juice, please.

Yousef designed the device
so the innocent-looking components

can be quickly transformed
into a lethal bomb.

Yousef has modified a digital
wristwatch as the bomb's timer.

This is wired to a detonator inside
the bottle of nitro-glycerine.

Two 9 volt batteries provide
an additional electric charge

to the exposed filament of a light
bulb that will spark the explosion.

(NERVE-RACKING MUSIC)

Yousef sets the alarm for
4 hours later,

when he anticipates the plane will be
flying high over the Pacific Ocean.

Yousef plants the bomb in a life vest
pouch under his seat,

a place ground crews are unlikely to
inspect during the stopover in Cebu.

Soon after, he gets off the plane
and disappears.

Four hours later, the time bomb
under seat 26K...

(EXPLOSION)

..awakes the airline industry
to a new kind of terrorism.

(NIGHTMARISH MUSIC)

Murad's confession confirms
Pellegrino's suspicions.

This is just the kind of
sophisticated plot

he has come to expect
from Ramzi Yousef.

But Pellegrino is still shocked by
what Murad says next.

PAL 434 was only a test, a dry run
for a much larger terrorist plot

that will kill thousands
of airline passengers.

A highly skilled terrorist, Ramzi
Yousef,

has already set off a new type of
bomb on an aircraft.

Now the FBI discovers Yousef wants
to blow up more planes.

And he continues to evade capture.

FBI investigators find evidence of
Yousef's meticulous planning

on secret files on the laptop

that he so desperately wanted
his accomplice to retrieve.

PELLEGRINO: On the laptop computer

found at the Josefa
apartment building,

was a file which laid out a plan for
5 individuals using code names -

individuals not mentioned
on the plan -

to board about 3 planes each.

Two planes, and a couple of people
had 3 planes,

planting bombs on the planes

and then returning back
to their home,

hoping when they planted the
bombs with the timing devices,

if everything went well,

all bombs would go off within about
a 6-hour time period.

Any more than one would have been
an airline disaster,

so if they were 50% successful
in their plan,

I think it would have scared a lot
of people for a long time.

The file on Yousef's laptop
reveals that the plan,

code-named Bojinka,
is foiled with no time to spare.

The bombing of 12 American planes
is meant to kill 4,000 passengers.

Yousef's campaign of terror against
the airlines is scheduled to start

less than 2 weeks after the bust of
his bomb factory in Manila.

By the time Pellegrino and the FBI
team arrive in the Philippines,

Yousef is long gone.

So it was a worry and
a missed opportunity.

But we also...

..a lot of these fugitive-type cases
are not all that different.

Everybody goes home -
everybody needs to go home.

So the investigation would focus
back to Pakistan.

The FBI immediately begin
a publicity campaign in Pakistan

promoting their $2 million reward
for assistance in arresting Yousef.

The strategy works.

Yousef's latest recruit
for yet another airline bombing

blows the whistle.

On the day Yousef is due to leave
his hotel in Islamabad,

a Pakistani SWAT team moves in.

(SUSPENSEFUL ACTION MUSIC)

(MAN SHOUTS ORDERS)

In Yousef's room are Delta and
United Airlines flight schedules

as well as bomb components
hidden in children's toys.

TV REPORTER: In a convoy of federal
and local patrol cars,

Ramzi Ahmed Yousef was brought into
New York City late Wednesday night,

ending a worldwide manhunt.

He was arrested Tuesday in Pakistan
by Pakistani authorities

and brought back by the FBI
on a US plane,

then into custody with heavy
security on the street

in case of any terrorist attacks
prompted by his arrest.

(SIRENS BLARE)

At his trial a year later in
New York Southern District Court,

Yousef decides to handle
his own defence,

against the advice of the judge.

He performs better than expected.

But he is found guilty on all charges
related to the bombing of PAL 434

and conspiring to bomb 12 American
passenger planes.

Yousef is also found guilty
in a second trial

for the World Trade Centre bombing.

In his final summing up,
Yousef justifies his actions.

Yes, I am a terrorist
and proud of it.

And I only support terrorism

so long as it is against
the United States government

and against Israel,

because you are more than
terrorists....

Although Pakistani, Yousef describes
himself as Palestinian by choice.

And he justifies the PAL 434 and
World Trade Centre bombings

as punishment for a US foreign policy
that favours Israel over Palestine.

..hypocrites!

(GAVEL BANGS)

For both crimes, he is sentenced to
240 years in prison.

The Judge recommends solitary
confinement for life

in the most secure prison in the US,
located in Florence, Colorado.

It houses the country's most violent
and dangerous prisoners,

and it is where Yousef will spend
the rest of his life

confined in a cell for up to 23
out of every 24 hours.

(PRISON DOOR CLANGS SHUT)

We cannot afford to just sit down
and, uh, count our victories

with the arrest of Ramzi Yousef.

Somebody else has already replaced
him and somebody else is already

thinking of how to circumvent
these security measures

that we have put up.

In the year following
Yousef's attack on PAL 434,

the Federal Aviation Administration
certified a machine

to detect explosives.

Not one American carrier bought it.

Only after 9/11 was a law passed
that required US airports

to deploy explosive
detection systems.

But the most reliable models
are expensive, or too slow

and still not widely employed.

What's the old saying?

We have to be right
100% of the time.

A terrorist only has
to be right once.

Although there hasn't been a
successful airliner bombing

since PAL 434, those who forget the
past,

may be destined to revisit it.

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