Saudia Plane Evacuated After Written Bomb Threat Discovered
Jeff Edwards February 04, 2016
A Saudi Arabian Airlines flight at Madrid Airport was evacuated after a written bomb threat was found pinned to the plane’s baggage compartment with a knife.
A bomb hoax briefly disrupted traffic at Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD) while emergency workers responded to the situation onboard a Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) flight scheduled to depart to King Khalid International Airport (RUH) in Riyadh on Thursday. The pilot of the flight alerted air traffic control that a written bomb threat had been found on the aircraft before takeoff.
According to initial media reports, the threatening note written in English was discovered attached to a baggage compartment with a knife through it. The hand-written note reportedly consisted of the simple two-word warning: “bomb threat.”
Saudia officials say the bomb threat turned out be a hoax, but under the circumstances, there was no choice but to take the threatening note seriously. The plane was isolated at the airport before passengers and crew were evacuated using emergency slides under the supervision of police and fire crews. A subsequent inspection found no evidence of any sort of explosive device on the aircraft.
“It’s just another hoax that all airlines are subjected to,” a Saudia spokesperson told Reuters.
Airport officials say they briefly declared a “general alarm” in response to the incident, a decision which could have potentially delayed thousands of travelers. Once it became clear that the event was an isolated situation and under control, the emergency was downgraded to a “local alarm” allowing other air traffic to continue to arrive and depart.
[Photo: Reuters/Andrea Comas]
