Passenger charged with assault

BOSTON -- Preliminary FBI tests found explosives in the sneakers that a passenger tried to ignite aboard a Boeing 767 jetliner, and the man was charged Sunday with the federal crime of assaulting a flight crew.

His identity remained unclear. He was listed in court papers Sunday as Richard C. Reid, the name on his British passport. French authorities identified him as a Sri Lankan named Tariq Raja. In London, Scotland Yard said they believed the suspect was a British national.

Reid, 28, was charged Sunday in a federal criminal complaint with intimidation or assault of a flight crew causing interference with their duties. He faces a maximum 20 years in prison if convicted.

An initial court appearance was set for this morning, the FBI said. Reid was being held under constant watch Sunday in a jail in Plymouth, according to Mike Seele, spokesman for the Plymouth County Sheriff's Department.

French police opened an investigation Sunday to determine how Reid eluded increased security measures at Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris, where American Airlines Flight 63 took off Saturday.

Passengers on the flight said they had noticed the tall, ponytailed man standing alone and stone-faced before boarding.

"He had a blank look," Nicholas Green, a 27-year-old French trader, said. "The people who had seen him, remembered him."

During the flight, the suspect, who was sitting behind the wing in the coach section of the Boeing 767, tried to light a fuse protruding from one of his shoes, according to American Airlines spokesman Al Becker.

Smell of smoke

A flight attendant intervened and the 6-foot-4 suspect resisted and bit her, authorities said.

During the flight, the suspect, who was sitting behind the wing in the coach section of the Boeing 767, lit a match, but put it in his mouth when confronted by a flight attendant, according to U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan's office.

She told the captain and returned to see Reid with a match held to the tongue of his sneaker, then noticed a wire protruding from the shoe. She tried to grab the sneaker, but Reid allegedly pushed her to the floor, and she screamed for help.

Another flight attendant intervened and the 6-foot-4 Reid bit her, authorities said.

Passengers subdued the man, some taking off their belts to strap him into his seat, officials said.

Two doctors used drugs from the airplane's medical kit to sedate him.

The plane, carrying 183 passengers and 14 crew members, was escorted to Logan International Airport by two F-15 fighter jets.

Since Sept. 11, some pilots have urged passengers to attack anyone who tries to interfere with the operation of a plane. On Oct. 8, Edward Coburn, 31, was subdued by passengers after he tried to storm the cockpit of an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles.

Passengers on one of the airliners hijacked on Sept. 11 are believed to have fought their hijackers and caused the aircraft to crash in Pennsylvania instead of into an apparent Washington target.