| American Airlines Flight 63 | |
|---|---|
 Richard Reid's shoes | |
| Location | Airborne, betweenParis, France andMiami, U.S. |
| Date | December 22, 2001; 24 years ago (2001-12-22) |
| Target | Civilian airliner |
Attack type | Attemptedsuicide bombing |
| Weapon | Improvised explosive device concealed in shoe |
| Deaths | 0 |
| Injured | 1 |
| Perpetrator | al-Qaeda |
| Assailant | Richard Reid |
| Motive | Islamist terrorism through suicide bombing |
| Convictions | 8 counts of terrorism |
_(7842806880).jpg) N384AA, the aircraft involved, 11 years after the incident | |
| Bombing attempt | |
|---|---|
| Date | December 22, 2001 |
| Summary | After bomb failed to detonate properly, flight performed an emergency diversion to Boston and landed safely |
| Site |
|
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 767-300ER |
| Operator | American Airlines |
| IATA flight No. | AA63 |
| ICAO flight No. | AAL63 |
| Call sign | AMERICAN 63 |
| Registration | N384AA[1] |
| Flight origin | Charles de Gaulle Airport |
| Destination | Miami International Airport |
| Occupants | 197 |
| Passengers | 185 |
| Crew | 12[2] |
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Survivors | 197 |
On December 22, 2001, a failed shoe bombing attempt occurred aboardAmerican Airlines Flight 63. The aircraft, aBoeing 767-300ER (registration N384AA) with 197 passengers and crew aboard, was flying fromCharles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France, toMiami International Airport in the U.S. state ofFlorida.
The perpetrator,Richard Reid, was subdued by passengers after unsuccessfully attempting to detonateplastic explosives concealed within his shoes. The flight was diverted toLogan International Airport inBoston, escorted by Americanjet fighters, and landed without further incident. Reid was arrested and eventually sentenced to three life terms plus 110 years, without parole.
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As Flight 63 was flying over the Atlantic Ocean,Richard Reid, anIslamicfundamentalist from the United Kingdom and self-proclaimedal-Qaeda operative, carried shoes that were packed with two types of explosives. He had been refused permission to board the flight the day before.[3][4]
Passengers on the flight complained of a smoky smell shortly after the meal service. One flight attendant, Hermis Moutardier, walked the aisles of the plane to locate the source. She found Reid sitting alone near a window, attempting to light a match. Moutardier warned him that smoking was not allowed on board the aircraft, and Reid promised to stop.[2]
A few minutes later, Moutardier found Reid leaning over in his seat and unsuccessfully attempted to get his attention. After she asked him what he was doing, Reid grabbed at her, revealing one shoe in his lap, a fuse leading into the shoe, and a lit match. He was unable to detonate the bomb: perspiration from his feet dampened thetriacetone triperoxide (TATP) and prevented it from igniting.[5]
Moutardier tried grabbing Reid twice, but he pushed her to the floor each time, and she screamed for help. When another flight attendant, Cristina Jones, arrived to try to subdue Reid, he fought her and bit her thumb.[2]
The 6-foot-4-inch-tall (1.93 m) Reid, who weighed 215 pounds (98 kg), was subdued by the flight attendants and other passengers and immobilized by the cabin crew usingplastic handcuffs, seatbelt extensions, and headphone cords. A doctor administereddiazepam found in the flight kit of the aircraft.[2] Many of the passengers only became aware of the situation when the pilot announced that the flight was to be diverted toLogan International Airport inBoston.[6][additional citation(s) needed]
TwoF-15fighter jets escorted Flight 63 to Logan Airport. The plane parked in the middle of the runway, and Reid was arrested on the ground while the rest of the passengers were bussed to the main terminal. Authorities later found over 280 grams (10 ounces) of TATP andpentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) hidden in the hollowed soles of Reid's shoes,[4] which, if detonated, would have blown a significant hole in the aircraft and likely caused it to crash.[7] He pleaded guilty, and he was convicted, sentenced to three life terms plus 110 years without parole and incarcerated atADX Florence, asupermax federal prison inColorado.
Six months after the crash ofAmerican Airlines Flight 587 inQueens, New York, on November 12, 2001,Mohammed Mansour Jabarah agreed to cooperate with American authorities in exchange for a reduced sentence. He said that fellow CanadianAbderraouf Jdey had been responsible for the flight's destruction, using a shoe bomb similar to that found on Reid several months earlier. However, it was revealed during the crash investigation that pilot error, not terrorism, brought down the plane. Jabarah was a known colleague ofKhalid Sheikh Mohammed, and said that Reid and Jdey had both been enlisted by theal-Qaeda chief to participate in identical plots.[8][9]
In 2006, security procedures at American airports were changed in response to this incident, with passengers required to remove their shoes before proceeding through scanners.[10] The requirement was phased out for some travelers, particularly those withTSA PreCheck, in 2011.[11] Also in 2011, the rules were relaxed to allow children 12 and younger and adults 75 and older to keep their shoes on during security screenings.[12] On July 7, 2025, these rules were completely dropped at selected airports, before being scrapped entirely at all US airports the following day.[13][14]
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