=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2001/12/22/n= ational1726EST0587.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday, December 22, 2001 (AP) Flight diverted to Boston after passenger tries to ignite ``improvised expl= osives'' (12-22) 14:26 PST BOSTON (AP) -- An American Airlines flight was diverted to Boston's Logan International Airport Saturday afternoon after a passenger tried to ignite an "improvised explosive" in his shoes, authorities said. The passengers and crew on the Paris-to-Miami flight subdued the passenger, who became violent when confronted, according to broadcast reports. A suspect was taken into custody. CNN reported the man was traveling alo= ne on a British passport. Further information about him was not immediately known. "I'm told the flight attendant was drawn to him by the smell of sulfur from a lit match, and then challenged him as to what he was doing," said Thomas Kinton, interim executive director of the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs the airport. Kinton said the shoes contained "improvised explosives" capable of doing damage, and the intervention on the flight "appeared to have prevented something very serious from occurring." The plane was reportedly escorted to Logan by two F-15 fighter jets. The 185 passengers and 12 crew members were safely taken off the plane. =20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2001 AP