The offenses with which terrorists may be charged fall within one or more of several categories: crimes committed aboard an aircraft; crimes committed against an aircraft; crimes committed using dangerous instrumentalities, such as a bomb; crimes of terrorism; crimes committed by or against certain classes of individuals; and crimes for which accomplices may be liable. 2332f outlaws, among other things, placing or detonating explosives on foreign flagged airlines in the United States or on U.S. flagged airlines overseas (or attempting or conspiring to do so). Some have already been mentioned. Other statutes focus on the offenses which a terrorist might commit against an American. Each proscription applies to attempts and conspiracies as well. Selected Procedural Aspects

Special procedures often apply to those accused or convicted of terrorists attacks on commercial airlines. Even greater diversity marks the jurisdictional circumstances under which federal law permits the prosecution of such offenses especially when committed overseas.
Federal authorities can and have prosecuted terrorist attacks on commercial airlines under a wide variety of federal statutes. Some of those statutes outlaw crimes committed aboard a commercial airliner; some, crimes committed against the aircraft itself; others, crimes involving the use of firearms or explosives; still others, crimes committed for terrorist purposes. Within each category, the law reaches co-conspirators and other accomplices. Moreover, although most apply when committed within the United States, many apply to terrorist attacks overseas, particularly but necessarily, when the victims are Americans or U.S. airlines.