It was a dramatic scene on board a jet as two suspected terrorists are taken away in handcuffs. The arrests happened after a United airlines flight from Chicago landed in Amsterdam.

Authorities said the men were suspected of making a "dry run" to prepare for the bombing of a U.S. airliner, but later backed off that claim.

Investigators say the two Yemeni-born men, one from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the other in the U.S. on an expired visa checked their baggage on a flight from Chicago to Washington, but boarded a different plane to Amsterdam.

The baggage was found to contain cell phones, one of them taped to a bottle of Pepto Bismol, several watches taped together, plus knives and box cutters.

The arrests come less than a week after authorities charged former Canadian Idol contestant Khurram Sher with involvement in a terrorist cell.