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WASHINGTON - It started with a pop, then a burst of flame, then a brave passenger rushed down the aisle and tackled a suspected terrorist as a packed airplane descended towards Detroit on Christmas Day.
"There was a pop. And everybody got a little bit startled. And then we looked around and saw nothing," said Syed Jafry, who was sitting three rows behind the suspected terrorist.
"After a few seconds or so, then there was a little bit of light, a little bit of -- kind of flameish light and there was fire. And people began to panic almost. And everybody was rushing towards that area and tried to get water, a blanket and fire extinguisher."
People nearby tried to put the flame out, but it went a bit higher.
A young man three or four rows behind Jafry did not panic, however.
"He took care of that suspect. He handled him pretty good," Jaffry told CNN.
"There was a little bit, obviously, of a struggle. And I think he took it under control."
The cabin crew helped drag the man to the front of the plane and isolate him from the rest of the passengers.
"I don't recall that he was struggling," Jafry told CNN. "He appeared to be stunned... he was kind of more surprised."
It was all over extremely quickly and the plane landed about 10 or 20 minutes later, he said.
"I think he was trying to do something that didn't work," Jafry said.
Many in other sections of the plane did not even realize what had happened and the flight crew simply told them that they had experienced an "incident" but that everything was under control.
Michelle Kellerman was one of the passengers who heard the pop.
"We saw the fear in the flight attendants' eyes and then they grabbed the fire extinguisher," she told CNN.
People were yelling for water but then the crew rushed forward with a fire extinguisher and put the fire out, said Zina Saiga.
"And one guy put a lock on his head and dragged him to the front, his pants down -- I heard the pants were on fire," she said. "I thought they pulled it down so he cannot run."
- AFP/ir
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