The most recent attempt by a terrorist to detonate an Improvised Explosive Device within the confines of an air cabin has several recent precursors:

1995: Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind behind the 1993 WTC attack, was less than a week away from planting IEDs on several U.S. bound NWA flights from the Pacific. The IED was successfully tested in late 1994 on an Air Nippon Airways flight, killing a passenger.

2001: An Al-Qaeda operative, Richard Reid, unsuccessfully attempted to detonate an IED concealed within his shoe on an U.S.-bound AA flight, originating from Paris? Charles De-Gaulle International airport.

2004: Two Russian airliners are destroyed, nearly simultaneously, by female suicide bombers who detonated IEDs on-board.

Source: "History of Attacks Against Civil Aviation? Aviation Security Management: Volume 1, Andrew R. Thomas editor, (London; Praeger Security International) 2008, pp. 142-260.