Massachusetts Man Had Planned To Fly Explosives-Packed Model Aircraft Into Government Buildings

Last year, FBI agents uncovered a plot being put together by Rezwan Ferdaus to fly model airplanes rigged with explosives into government buildings, including the U.S. Capitol and the Pentagon. While the agency had been aware of his activities for some time and had no intention of allowing him to carry out the threat, they did consider it credible.

Tuesday, Ferdaus agreed to plead guilty to two of the six charges against him, and could serve up to 17 years in prison. The charges he admitted to were attempting to damage and destroy a federal building by means of an explosive, and attempting to provide material support for terrorists, according to a report from CNN.

The plot, which was uncovered last October, involved flying large model airplanes carrying C-4 explosives into the buildings, and then take control of the buildings with a few armed individuals. In a justice department statement released last October, Ferdaus, who is a U.S. Citizen, planned to "crowd survivors of the attack into an ever-decreasing space, and "dominate" them." Authorities said at the time that, in recorded conversations, the suspect "envisioned causing a large “psychological” impact by killing Americans, including women and children, who he referred to as “enemies of Allah.”

Ferdaus worked with FBI agents he thought were members of al Qaeda. They provided him with about 25 pounds of mostly-fake C-4, as well as inoperative AD-47 rifles and grenades.

Ferdaus had actually acquired the model airplane ... a $6,500 RC F-86 Sabre (pictured, above) that he was keeping in a storage facility under an alias.

FMI: www.justice.gov