Santiago Esparza and Gordon Trowbridge / The Detroit News

An unnamed man was arrested at Detroit Metropolitan Airport and the customs area shut down briefly today after the passenger claimed he "contaminated" everyone on a flight from Amsterdam, said airport spokesman Michael Conway.
The Northwest Airlines flight arrived about 11 a.m., Conway said. The man, who is a United States citizen, disembarked and then implied to the air crew he had a biological agent of some sort and had contaminated the flight in some unspecified, said U.S. Customs agent Ron Smith.
Federal, county and local agencies responded to the threats, Conway and Smith said. Airport emergency medical technicians examined the man and felt he did not pose a health risk.
A Centers for Disease Control staffer was present and agreed with that assessment, Conway said. The claims took about 90 minutes to investigate and the others passengers from Amsterdam had to wait in the customs area until the probe was complete.
Officers and agents from several law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, interviewed the man and released him, Smith said.
"He was eventually released to continue his journey," Smith said.
It was not clear where the man was headed.
Passengers on two incoming flights from Japan were not allowed to deplane into the customs and immigration area for their own protection, Conway said. Smith said those passengers were delayed about one hour.
Conway said it was possible the man suffered form a mental disorder of some sort, but that he and the emergency medical technicians are not medically qualified to make that determination.
The stir comes on the heels of furor last week when international authorities announced Thursday they had arrested at least 20 people in connection with a plot to blow up planes headed to the U.S. from England using liquid explosives. For the immediate future, passengers are forbidden to bring beverages, lotions and other liquids into airline passenger cabins.
You can reach Santiago Esparza at (313) 222-2127 or [email protected].