DETROIT, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Experts disagree over how much damage would have occurred if the Christmas Day bombing of a Northwest Airlines jetliner over Detroit had been successful.
Some think the explosion would have only blown a hole in the interior wall of the aircraft while others say it could have been enough to bring Northwest Flight 253 down, The Detroit News reported Friday.
U.S. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., said she learned during a classified security briefing that the would-be bomber came "pretty close" to succeeding.
But Theodor Krauthammer, a civil engineering professor at the University of Florida, said too much would have had to happen to actually bring the plane down.
Krauthammer said the bomber would need to find just the right structural point in the aircraft in order to cause maximum damage.
It's much more likely the explosion would have caused minor damage to the plane's interior wall, he said.
