The Connecticut man busted in the Times Square bomb plot was minutes from fleeing the country before he was yanked off a Dubai-bound flight at JFK Airport, officials said Tuesday.

Faisal Shahzad was removed from the international flight by federal agents shortly after he paid cash Monday night for his ticket to freedom - barely two days after the botched bombing, authorities said.

As Shahzad confessed to his crime and provided federal authorities with incriminating information and evidence, at least two other suspects were arrested in Pakistan, authorities said.

"He told us he was trained in Pakistan," a senior U.S. counterterrorism official told the Daily News. The official did not know where the training occurred or which group worked with Shahzad.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly praised everyone involved for the quick capture of the naturalized U.S. citizen. "By my calculations, 53 hours and 20 minutes elapsed from the time Faisal Shahzad crossed Broadway to the time he was apprehended at Kennedy Airport," Kelly said.

"We know Jack Bauer can do it in 24 [hours]. But in the real world, 53's not bad."

The suspect will be charged with terrorism, attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and explosives charges.

Shahzad's name was placed on a terrorism watch list earlier Monday, the third day of an intensive lookout for the bombing suspect at airports around the country.

The frantic scramble to arrest the 30-year-old terror suspect began when his name was finally matched with the passenger manifest of Emirates Flight 202 on Monday night, sources told the Daily News.

By the time investigators made the link, the suspect had already cleared ticketing and airport security - and taken his seat on the international flight, the sources said.

He was grabbed aboard Emirates Flight 202 around 11:45 p.m.

"He was ahead of the data," a police source said. "It wasn't until he was on board the aircraft that the information about him caught up with the manifest."

Since Shahzad paid cash, and bought his ticket so close to boarding time, his name didn't appear on the manifest until after he boarded the flight.

If the flight had taken off, officials said, they had the authority to order the plane back to JFK.

"I was never in any fear that we were in danger of losing him," said Attorney General Eric Holder, adding the global investigation was ongoing. We "will not rest until we have brought everyone responsible to justice," Holder said. The nation's top prosecutor said Shahzad had confessed to the plot.