Editing Bojinka plot (section)

==Phase II: Airline bombing plot==
The next plan would have involved at least five terrorists, including Yousef, Shah, Murad, and two more unknown operatives. Beginning on January 21, 1995, and ending on January 22, 1995, they would have placed bombs on 11 United States-bound airliners that had stopovers scattered throughout East Asia and Southeast Asia. All of the flights had two legs, wherein the bombs would be planted inside [[life jacket]]s under seats on the first leg, and each bomber would then disembark. He would then board one or two more flights and repeat. After all of the bombers had planted bombs on all of the flights, each man would then catch flights to [[Lahore, Pakistan]]. The attackers never needed U.S. [[visa (document)|visas]], as they only would have been on the planes for their first legs within Asia.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

American airlines had been chosen instead of Asian airlines to maximize the shock toward Americans. The flights targeted were listed under operatives with codenames: "Zyed," "Majbos," "Markoa," "Mirqas," and "Obaid." The explosions were to be timed by the operatives before they disembarked from the plane. The aircraft would have exploded over the Pacific Ocean and the [[South China Sea]] almost simultaneously. If this plan worked, several thousand passengers would have perished, and air travel would likely have been shut down worldwide. The U.S. government estimated the prospective death toll to be about 4,000 if the plot had been executed,{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}as compared to almost 3,000 killed during the [[September 11 attacks]] in the United States.<ref>{{cite news |last=Plumer |first=Brad |date=September 11, 2013 |title=Nine facts about terrorism in the United States since 9/11 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/09/11/nine-facts-about-terrorism-in-the-united-states-since-911/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819021549/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/09/11/nine-facts-about-terrorism-in-the-united-states-since-911/ |archive-date=August 19, 2017 |access-date=November 26, 2015 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>

===Bomb===

The "Mark II microbombs" had [[Casio]] digital watches as the timers, stabilizers that looked like cotton wool balls, and an undetectable quantity of [[nitroglycerin]] as the explosive. Other ingredients included [[glycerin]], [[nitrate]], [[sulfuric acid]], and minute concentrations of [[nitrobenzene]], [[silver azide]] (silver trinitride), and liquid [[acetone]]. Two 9-volt [[Battery (electricity)|batteries]] in each bomb were used as a power source. The batteries would be connected to light bulb filaments that would detonate the bomb. Murad and Yousef wired an [[Silicon controlled rectifier|SCR]] (silicon controlled rectifier) as the switch to trigger the filaments to detonate the bomb. There was an external socket hidden when the wires were pushed under the watch base as the bomber would wear it. The alteration was so small that the watch could still be worn in a normal manner.<ref name="brzezinski-bombshell"/><ref name="jenkins-terrorism">{{Cite news |last=Jenkins |first=Brian |date=May 13, 1996 |title=Terrorism trial begins in New York |url=http://edition.cnn.com/US/9605/12/terror.plot/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240506181605/http://edition.cnn.com/US/9605/12/terror.plot/ |archive-date=May 6, 2024 |access-date=July 30, 2024 |work=CNN}}</ref><ref name="lance-thousand">{{Cite book |last=Lance |first=Peter |title=1000 Years for Revenge: International Terrorism and the FBI—the Untold Story |publisher=William Morrow and Company |year=2003 |isbn=978-0060543549 |edition=1st |location=New York}}</ref>

Yousef got batteries past airport security during his December 11 test bombing of [[Philippine Airlines Flight 434]] by hiding them in hollowed-out heels of his shoes. Yousef smuggled the nitroglycerin on board by putting it inside a small container, reputedly containing [[contact lens]] cleaning solution.<ref>{{Cite episode |title=Bomb on Board |series=Mayday |series-link=Mayday (Canadian TV series) |network=[[Discovery Channel Canada]] / [[National Geographic Channel]] |date=12 October 2005 |season=3 |number=5}}</ref>

===Airports planned to be targeted===
{{unreferenced section|date=January 2018}}

====Asia====

* [[Kai Tak Airport]] in British Hong Kong
* [[Narita International Airport]] in [[Tokyo]], Japan
* [[Ninoy Aquino International Airport]] in [[Manila]], Philippines
* [[Taoyuan International Airport|Chiang Kai-shek (Taoyuan) International Airport]] in [[Taipei]], Taiwan
* [[Singapore Changi Airport]] in Singapore
* [[Gimpo International Airport]] in [[Seoul]], South Korea
* [[Don Mueang International Airport|Bangkok (Don Mueang) International Airport]] in [[Bangkok]], Thailand

====United States====

* [[Honolulu International Airport]], [[Honolulu]], Hawaii
* [[John F. Kennedy International Airport]], New York City, New York
* [[Los Angeles International Airport]], Los Angeles
* [[Chicago O'Hare International Airport]], Chicago, Illinois
* [[San Francisco International Airport]], San Francisco

===Targeted flights===

* "Zyed" was to attack a [[Northwest Airlines]] Manila-Seoul-Los Angeles flight, then a [[United Airlines]] Seoul-Taipei-Honolulu flight, and then a United Bangkok-Taipei-San Francisco flight. Zyed would then flee to [[Karachi]], [[Pakistan]] after disembarking in Bangkok.<ref name="Piszkiewicz93">{{Cite book |last=Piszkiewicz |first=Dennis |title=Terrorism's War with America: A History |date=November 30, 2003 |publisher=Praeger Publishers |isbn=978-0275979522 |edition=1st |location=Westport |pages=92–93}}</ref>
* "Majbos" was to attack a [[United Airlines]] Taipei-Tokyo-Los Angeles flight, with him disembarking in Tokyo, and then proceed to a United Tokyo-Hong Kong-New York flight. After disembarking in Hong Kong, he would have fled to Karachi, Pakistan.<ref name="Piszkiewicz93"/>
* "Maroka" was to attack a Northwest Airlines Manila-Tokyo-Chicago flight, with him disembarking in Tokyo, and then proceed to a Northwest Tokyo-Hong Kong-New York flight. After disembarking in Hong Kong, he would have escaped to Karachi.<ref name="Piszkiewicz93"/>
* "Mirqas" was to attack a United Airlines Manila-Seoul-San Francisco flight, with him disembarking in Seoul, and then proceed to a [[Delta Air Lines]] Seoul-Taipei-Bangkok flight. After disembarking in Taipei, he would have escaped to Karachi.<ref name="Piszkiewicz93" />
* "Obaida" was to attack a United Airlines Singapore-Hong Kong-Los Angeles flight and a United Airlines Los Angeles-Hong Kong-Singapore flight, which would become a Singapore-Hong Kong-San Francisco flight. After arriving in Singapore, Obaida was to flee to Pakistan.<ref name="Piszkiewicz93"/>