Or was that the Bikini Brief Bomber?

Blow up planes and treat your heart condition at the same time!

Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN, also known as corpent, pentrite, or rarely and primarily in German as nitropenta or pentrit) is one of the most powerful high explosives known, with a relative effectiveness factor (R.E. factor) of 1.66. It is also used as a medical drug to treat heart conditions.

The most common use of PETN is as an explosive. It is more sensitive to shock or friction than TNT or tetryl. It is difficult to detonate, as dropping it or setting it on fire will typically not cause an explosion. Someone should have told the bikini brief bomber about Wikipedia. It is thus never used alone. It is primarily used in booster and bursting charges of small caliber ammunition, in upper charges of detonators in some land mines and shells, and as the explosive core of detonation cord. PETN is also a major ingredient of the Semtex plastic explosive.

Like the related explosive nitroglycerin (glyceryl trinitrate), PETN is also used medically as a vasodilator in the treatment of heart conditions. These drugs work by releasing the signaling gas nitric oxide in the body. The heart medicine Lentonitrat is nearly pure PETN.

Penthrite was first synthesized in 1891 by German chemist Bernhard Tollens and P. Wiegand by nitration of pentaerythritol. In 1912, after being patented by the German government, the production of PETN started. PETN was used by the German Army in World War I.

In 1983, the "Maison de France" house in Berlin was brought to a partial (and to the verge of total) collapse by the detonation of 24 kg of pentaerythritol tetranitrate by terrorist Johannes Weinrich.

In December 2001, PETN was the explosive used by al-Qaeda member Richard Reid in his unsuccessful attempt to blow up American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami. ] He had intended to use the solid triacetone triperoxide (TATP) as a detonator.

On 28 August 2009, PETN was used in an attempt to murder the Saudi Arabian Deputy Minister of Interior Prince Muhammad bin Nayef by a Saudi suicide-bomber (Abdullah Hassan al Asiri) linked to an al-Qaeda cell based in Yemen. The target survived, and the bomber died in the blast. The PETN was hidden in the bomber's rectum or sewn into his underwear.

On 25 December 2009, PETN was found in the possession of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian with links to an al-Qaeda cell based in Yemen. According to US law enforcement officials, he had attempted to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 while approaching Detroit from Amsterdam. Abdulmutallab had tried, unsuccessfully, to detonate PETN sewn into his underwear, by adding liquid from a syringe; however only a small fire resulted.

Please. I can't believe this even happened and we're reading about it.