NEW YORK (AP) - Airline passengers appear to be taking in stride the news of a thwarted al-Qaida plot to bring down a commercial airliner with a bomb around last week's anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death.

One man from France who was boarding a flight from New York to Paris today said, "The terrorists will always be looking to make a bomb."

A retiree who was headed to a vacation in Italy with her husband says she was "nervous -- for a minute" after hearing about the plot. But Nan Gartner says they then figured they'd be OK since they aren't going anywhere near Yemen, where the bomb plot was said to have originated.

U.S. officials are working to reassure the public that the measures in place at airports are strong, and can prevent this type of attack. They say airport security procedures don't need to be toughened.

According to one U.S. official, the current detection methods probably would have spotted the shape of the explosive in the underwear bomb. It was intercepted by the CIA with the help of a well-placed informant and some foreign intelligence services.

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Associated Press