Barack Obama has ordered an urgent review of airport screening after a former London student was able to take explosives on board a transatlantic airliner headed to the US on Christmas Day.
Abdul Mutallab was charged in hospital on Saturday night
An urgent investigation is under-way to find out how Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab evaded security checks to board the plane carrying 278 passengers on Friday.
Authorities had apparently been warned about the 23-year-old Nigerian's extremist views by his own millionaire father.
A spokesperson for the Obama administration said the probe targeted the Department of Homeland Security, specifically the Transportation Security Administration.
He said the US President was "interested in learning how the explosive material was brought on board the aircraft and steps that can be taken to enhance the ability of airport screeners to detect and interdict such materials in the future".
Abdul Mutallab was charged in hospital on Saturday night with attempting to destroy the aircraft during its final approach to Detroit airport.
The Northwest Airlines Flight 253
The student, who read mechanical engineering at University College London between 2005 and 2008, was also charged with placing a destructive device on the Northwest Airlines Flight 253.
He was released from hospital on Sunday into the custody of US marshals. His current location remains undisclosed.
Meanwhile, there were more anxious scenes at the Detroit airport affected on Christmas Day, when a second Nigerian man was arrested on Sunday night.
A security official later confirmed the businessman posed no security risk to the plane, which had followed the same route from Amsterdam as the disrupted flight on Friday.
The incident ensured added disruptions for thousands of travellers waiting to fly between North America and Europe.
In Britain, some passengers waiting to fly to America for New Year were left waiting more than three hours, although most delays were less severe.
People flying across the Atlantic were advised to arrive early and carry just one piece of hand luggage.
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