Nigerian Man Indicted in Bombing Attempt

Updated 8:53 p.m. EST

A Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day was indicted Wednesday on charges including attempted murder and trying to use a weapon of mass destruction to kill nearly 300 people.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, was traveling from Amsterdam when he tried to destroy the plane carrying by injecting chemicals into a package of pentrite explosive concealed in his underwear, authorities say. The failed attack caused popping sounds and flames that passengers and crew rushed to extinguish.

Special Report: The Christmas Day Terror Attack

Court papers also reveal the device hidden by Abdulmutallab in his underwear was strikingly similar to the shoe bomb worn by Richard Reid in 2001, reports CBS News correspondent Bob Orr. Both were made of two "high explosives" - PETN and TATP - a deadly and popular combination favored by al Qaeda bomb-makers.

Read the indictment against Abdulmutallab

The grand jury's indictment said the bomb was designed to detonate "at a time of his choosing."

Officials say that's what he tried to do as the jet was on final approach to Detroit. But, the bomb fizzled when chemicals injected into the explosives didn't produce enough heat to cause a blast, Orr reports.

The Los Angeles Times reported late Wednesday that U.S. border security officials learned of the intelligence concerns about Abdulmutallab while he was in the air and planned to question him when he landed.

The new information highlights how close U.S. officials came to preventing Abdulmutallab from boarding the flight, the Times reported.

There is no specific mention of terrorism in the seven-page indictment, but President Obama considers the incident a failed strike against the United States by an affiliate of al Qaeda.

Abdulmutallab has told U.S. investigators he received training and instructions from al Qaeda operatives in Yemen. His father warned the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria that his son had drifted into extremism in Yemen, but that threat was never fully digested by the U.S. security apparatus.

Since the failed attack, airlines and the Transportation Security Administration have boosted security in airports in the U.S. and around the world. Mr. Obama has said the government had information that could have stopped the attempted attack, but intelligence agencies failed to connect the dots.

Abdulmutallab faces up to life in prison if convicted of attempting to use a bomb on the plane. He is being held at a federal prison in Milan, Mich., and a message seeking comment was left Wednesday with his lawyers, Miriam Siefer and Leroy Soles.

"This investigation is fast-paced, global and ongoing, and it has already yielded valuable intelligence that we will follow wherever it leads," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement. "Anyone we find responsible for this alleged attack will be brought to justice using every tool military or judicial available to our government."

Abdulmutallab will make his first appearance in federal court on Friday for an arraignment and a hearing to determine if he stays in custody. U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Randon is expected to preside over the arraignment, which has been scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday at the federal courthouse in Detroit, CBS News reports.

"Short of actual murder, these are some of the most serious charges in the criminal code," said Lloyd Meyer, a former terrorism prosecutor at U.S. war crimes tribunals at the Guantanamo Bay prison. "These charges are tailored to the facts of what happened over the sky in Detroit."