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Underwear Bomber: Why He Chose Detroit

DETROIT (WWJ) - New details have emerged about the 2009 plot to blow up a plane over Detroit on Christmas Day.

When accused bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was allegedly planning to launch his terrorist attack, he considered launching the strike in the skies above Houston or Chicago. Instead, he reportedly chose Detroit because the airline ticket was cheaper.

Abdulmutallab, 24, is charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and conspiring with others to kill 281 passengers and 11 crew members aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253. U.S investigators believe he received training and instructions from al-Qaida operatives in Yemen, beginning in August 2009.

He is scheduled to go to trial in October.

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