Timing a midair blast no easy feat



Parts of a computer printer with explosives loaded into its toner cartridge were found in a package onboard a cargo plane in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, en route from Yemen. Dubai police say the bomb, discovered in a shipment of air cargo from Yemen bound for the United States, contained the powerful explosive PETN and bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda. (Associated Press)

  Even after a suspected test run in September, last week's attempted mail bombings from Yemen were a shot in the dark for al Qaeda, which could not have known exactly where its packages were when they were set to explode, U.S. officials said.

When investigators pulled the Chicago-bound packages off cargo planes in England and the United Arab Emirates on Friday, they found the bombs wired to cell phones. The communication cards had been removed and the phones could not receive calls, officials said, making it likely the terrorists intended the alarm or timer functions to detonate the bombs.


"The cell phone probably would have been triggered by the alarm functions and it would have exploded midair," said a U.S. official briefed on the investigation, who, like other officials, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the case.


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