We are going to be looking at that process and how those lists are created , maintained , updated , exchanged and the like , because clearly this individual should not have been able to board this plane carrying that material . '' AbdulMutallab is accused of trying to blow up a Northwest flight from Amsterdam , Netherlands , to Detroit , Michigan , on Christmas Day . Officials say he carried an explosive device that contained pentaerythritol tetranitrate , an explosive also known as PETN . Part of the device , which failed to detonate , was sewn into his underwear , a law enforcement official said Monday . President Obama , in his first public comment since the incident , said Monday that screening and security procedures for all flights were immediately enhanced , including an increase in the number of air marshals on international flights . The federal system for tracking potential terrorism suspects will be reviewed because the latest incident showed that it had possible failings , the president said . All screening policies , technologies and procedures for air travel will be reviewed `` to determine just how the suspect was able to bring dangerous
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Air travel security is being increased as authorities continue to question how a man got explosives on a U.S.-bound passenger jet , according to federal officials , including the president and his homeland security chief . Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told CNN 's `` American Morning '' on Monday that officials would review how anti-terrorist watch lists are maintained . Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab , who is accused of trying to blow up a flight carrying 300 passengers , was on a general list that contained 550,000 other names , but he was still allowed to travel to the United States . A senior administration official said the suspect was not on a no-fly list because `` the info on him was not deemed specific enough to pull his visa or put him on a no-fly list . '' `` Under the existing protocols , it requires an interagency process and the identification of other negative information that 's credible ... and that process whittles down from 500,000 -LSB- names -RSB- or so that are on the generic list to the fewer than 5,000 that are on the no-fly list , '' Napolitano said . ``