An aviation technician caught in an FBI sting pleaded guilty to plotting to attack a Kansas airport with a car bomb, US officials said.
"Terry Loewen utilised his privileged airport access to attempt a terrorist attack in Wichita," Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin said in a statement yesterday.
"Detecting, disrupting and holding accountable those who wish to harm Americans remains our highest priority."
Loewen, 59, was arrested in December 2013 when he tried to use his access pass to drive a van filled with what he believed to be explosives on to the grounds of the Wichita Mid-Continent Airport.
He came to the attention of the FBI in May 2013 when he became a Facebook friend of a person who was posting comments advocating violent jihad.
An undercover agent began communicating with him and offered to help when Loewen "expressed his desire to engage in violent jihad," prosecutors said.
Loewen told the undercover agent that he wanted to martyr himself and was waiting for "the green light" from Allah to carry out a violent attack on a civilian target.
He also said he was inspired by the teachings of Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki.
In September 2013, Loewen sent photos of airplanes on the tarmac at the Wichita airport to the undercover agent and said he could have "walked over there, shot both pilots ... Slapped some C4 on both fuel trucks and set them off before anyone even called TSA."
A second undercover agent began meeting with him in October. He eventually helped Loewen assemble a bomb -- ensuring that it was actually inert -- and drove with him as Loewen tried to use his access badge to access the airport's tarmac.
In his plea agreement, Loewen agreed with the prosecutor's recommendation of a sentence of 20 years in prison. A judge will make the final decision at a sentencing hearing.
