Today there was an attempted terrorist attack onboard a Northwest flight en route to Detroit. A Nigerian man allegedly tried to ignite a powdery substance as the plane neared its destination on Friday in an effort to blow up the aircraft, a senior U.S. counter-terror official told the AP. The White House released a statement calling it an “act of terrorism.”

According to The Daily Beast, the passenger, is allegedly a suspected terrorist on the government’s no-fly list, reportedly said Al Qaeda instructed him to cause an explosion on the flight from Amsterdam once over U.S. soil. The suspect also told authorities the substance, which he said he acquired in Yemen, was taped to his leg and that he had used a syringe of chemicals to combine with the powder to cause an explosion, a method consistent with terrorist techniques.

The detection systems throughout Europe and the rest of the world are not up to the standards of the United States, which in-part explains why the terrorist was able to get the bomb aboard the aircraft. But the bomb itself was highly advanced and undetectable to the security systems in place at these overseas airports. Northwest Flight 253 had 278 passengers and 11 crew members aboard. According to the Associated Press, the flight was about 20 minutes from the airport when witnesses reported hearing popping noises.

The Associated Press reports that at least one person climbed over others and jumped on the man. Shortly afterward, the suspect was taken to the front of the plane with his pants cut off and his legs burned, a passenger said. One U.S. intelligence official said the explosive device was a mix of powder and liquid. It failed when the passenger tried to detonate it.

Now, I know I keep coming back to this, but once again Bill Maher was right. These terrorist used up their A-team on 9/11. That tragic day was definitely a shot in the dark, and those who died shall never be forgotten. But the terrorist that tried to blow up Flight 253 on Christmas day ended up lighting himself on fire. Now, you’d have to be the worst suicide bomber in the world to lite yourself on fire without actually detonating the bomb. I’m also proud of the other passengers for not laying back and taking this guy’s fanaticism.