According to the Dutch newspaper, NRC Handelsblad, the Acting Dutch Prime Minister Wouter Bos today thanked Dutch video director and producer from Amsterdam, Jasper Schuringa, for his actions aboard the Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.
Bos thanked Schuringa on behalf of the Dutch Cabinet for the role he played in subduing the alleged terrorist, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, and possibly preventing a tragedy.
According to the Handlelsblad, passenger Jasper Schuringa reacted immediately after he heard a sound that reminded him of a firecracker, threw himself against the burning object and tore some clothes off the Nigerian to make sure that there were no more explosives.
Other reports have Schuringa, who had been sitting in seat 20J, in the right-most section of the aircraft, diving over four passengers to reach Farouk Abdulmutallab, who had a smoking blanket over his legs with flames coming from beneath his legs.
According to the New York Post, Schuringa felt that the alleged terrorist had something strapped to his legs, and:
The unassuming hero ripped the flaming, molten object — which resembled a small, white shampoo bottle — off Abdul Mutallab’s left leg, near his crotch. He said he put out the fire with his bare hands.
Schuringa yelled for water, and members of the flight crew soon appeared with fire extinguishers. Then, he said, he hauled the suspect out of the seat.
“I took him in a choke to the first class and all the people were like, ‘What’s going on?!”
“I don’t feel like a hero,” Schuringa told the Post as he recuperated with pals. “It was something that came completely natural … It was something where I had to do something or it was too late.”
Most of the passengers on the flight, and most Americans, I am sure, feel that this Dutch young man is definitely a hero.
UPDATE:
To become a fan of Jasper Schuringa, click here.
Image: Courtesy Drasties.com
