2010 transatlantic aircraft bomb plot

On October 29, 2010, two packages, each containing a bomb consisting of 300 to 400 grams (11–14 oz) of plastic explosives and a detonating mechanism, were found on separate cargo planes. The bombs were discovered as a result of intelligence received from Saudi Arabia's security chief. They were in transport from Yemen to the United States and were discovered at stopover locations: one at East Midlands Airport in the UK and one in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

One week later, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) took responsibility for the plot and for the crash of UPS Airlines Flight 6.^[1] American and British authorities believed that Anwar al-Awlaki of AQAP was behind the bombing attempts and that the bombs were most likely constructed by AQAP's main explosives expert, Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri.^[2][3] The bombs were probably designed to detonate in flight, with the intention of destroying both planes over Chicago or another American city.^[4][5] Each bomb had already been transported on passenger and cargo planes at the time of discovery.