National Lampoon director saves flight 253.

by Jennie Kermode
Saturday, 26 December 2009

He's best known as the second unit director on National Lampoon comedy Teed Off Too, but Amsterdam-born filmmaker Jasper Schuringa now finds himself famous for a different reason. Last night he tackled a suspected terrorist aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253, taking control of a chaotic situation and potentially saving 300 lives.

Schuringa, who also worked on The Significance Of Seventeen with Carols Puga, was sitting close to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the son of a notable Nigerian banker, when he noticed that the nervous looking young man was clutching something that appeared to be on fire. He grabbed the object, which turned out to be a container filled with a mixture of powder and liquid and primed to explode. Fortunately Schuringa was able to take control of the situation before it fully ignited, and though he burned his hands in the process, he is less severely burned that Abdulmutallab himself and expects to make a full recovery. He subsequently helped to restrain and handcuff the suspect.

"I am shaken up," he told CNN, "but happy to be here."