Jet evacuated in Madrid after pilot reports threat

This is just in. According to the report A Saudi Arabian jet heading to Saudi Arabia from Madrid had to evacuate its passenger after the pilot reported an unspecified threat. Please read on...
(culled from http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)

MADRID: Passengers on a jet set to leave Madrid for Saudi Arabia have been evacuated after the pilot reported an unspecified threat.


A spokeswoman for Spain's airport authority AENA says the Saudi Arabian Airlines jet taxied to a remote part of Madrid's airport on Thursday after the threat was reported and all passengers safely disembarked.

The spokeswoman didn't have further details about the nature of the threat, but said Madrid's airport was briefly placed on a high level safety alert by law enforcement officials.
The alert level was lowered after the passengers disembarked from the jet, which was supposed to fly to Riyadh.
She said the airport was operating normally after the incident.

The AENA official talked on condition of anonymity because of agency rules preventing her from being named.

--- Updated Reports

Passengers on a flight to Riyadh from Madrid were evacuated today after a note threatening a bomb attack was found inside the plane in what was later confirmed as a hoax.

The Saudi Arabian Airlines flight had been due to take off in the mid-morning from Madrid but the captain requested an evacuation after a note reading “11:30 bomb” was discovered pinned to the interior. The plane was taken to an isolated part of the airport for inspection.

The airline is just the latest to be hit by fake threats as jitters over extremist attacks continue, particularly since a Russian passenger jet crashed in October over the Sinai peninsula, killing 224 people in what Moscow said was an act of terror.

“The information that we have from the Guardia Civil (police force) is that it was a false alert,” a spokeswoman for airport operator AENA, who refused to be named, told AFP.

Security forces and rescue services were quickly mobilised when the note was discovered on board the SVA 226 flight that carried 97 passengers and 15 crew members.

After an inspection of the aircraft, the authorities eventually concluded there was no bomb on board.

The airport continued to operate normally throughout.

Saudi Arabian Airlines is just the latest to be hit by such a hoax.

Last month, an Indian passenger plane was forced to make an emergency landing in the country’s western city of Nagpur after a hoax bomb threat.


That same January, a Scandinavian Airlines plane carrying 72 people from London to Stockholm was diverted to Gothenburg and the passengers evacuated, due to a hoax bomb threat. — AFP