Passenger sets off firecrackers

Dec 25 2009

A passenger aboard a plane at the US Detroit Metropolitan Airport caused a commotion and some minor injuries by setting off firecrackers, officials said.

The devices went off as Northwest Airlines Flight 253, an Airbus 330 carrying 278 passengers, was arriving in Detroit from Amsterdam.

The passenger was subdued immediately, said Delta Air Lines spokeswoman Susan Elliott. One passenger was taken to the University of Michigan Medical Centre in Ann Arbor.

An FBI spokeswoman in Detroit said the incident was being investigated.

JP Karas, 55, said he was driving down a road near the airport and saw a Delta jet at the end of the runway, surrounded by police cars, an ambulance, a bus and TV trucks.

"I don't ever recall seeing a plane on that runway ever before and I pass by there frequently," he said.

Karas said it was difficult to tell what was going on, but it looked like the front wheel was off the runway.