DETROIT — A federal judge today set an Oct. 4 trial date for a Nigerian man charged with trying to blow up a crowded Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day, 2009, using a bomb hidden in his underwear.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 24, is charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and conspiring with others to kill 281 passengers and 11 crew members aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253. U.S investigators believe he received training and instructions from al-Qaida operatives in Yemen, beginning in August 2009.

Law enforcement officials believe Abdulmutallab tried to ignite a two-part concoction of the highly explosive PETN and possibly a glycol-based liquid explosive that was hidden in his underwear. It set off popping sounds, smoke and some fire, but it didn’t detonate. Passengers and crew rushed to subdue Abdulmutallab and extinguish the flames.