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Schiphol airport: False alarm causes Amsterdam security alert Schiphol airport: Pilot sparks hijack security alert in Amsterdam
(about 1 hour later)
A false report of an airline hijacking sparked a large police response on board a plane at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport on Wednesday evening. A pilot on a plane has accidentally set off a hijack alarm and sparked a major security alert at Schiphol airport in the Dutch city of Amsterdam.
Dutch police tweeted at about 19:30 (18:30 GMT) that they were investigating a "suspicious situation". Dutch military police tweeted at about 19:30 (18:30 GMT) to say they were investigating a "suspicious situation".
Part of the airport, which is one of Europe's busiest, was closed to passengers as officials investigated. Part of the airport - one of Europe's busiest - was then closed off as police responded to the reported threat.
But after people were evacuated from the plane, Air Europa announced a pilot had accidentally set off an alert. But about an hour later, Air Europa announced that a pilot had accidentally triggered the alarm.
"False alarm. In the flight Amsterdam-Madrid this afternoon was activated, by mistake, a warning that triggers protocols on hijackings at the airport," the airline tweeted."False alarm. In the flight Amsterdam-Madrid this afternoon was activated, by mistake, a warning that triggers protocols on hijackings at the airport," the airline tweeted.
"Nothing has happened, all passengers are safe and sound waiting to fly soon. We deeply apologize." "Nothing has happened, all passengers are safe and sound waiting to fly soon. We deeply apologise."
Shortly before their announcement, Dutch military police confirmed all passengers and staff had been safely evacuated from the Madrid-bound flight.Shortly before their announcement, Dutch military police confirmed all passengers and staff had been safely evacuated from the Madrid-bound flight.
Images posted on social media showed parts of the airport's D-pier cordoned off to the public, with passengers waiting around for information.Images posted on social media showed parts of the airport's D-pier cordoned off to the public, with passengers waiting around for information.
Flights still landed at other parts of the airport during the disruption, but some emergency services were called to the tarmac. Flights still landed at other parts of the airport during the disruption, but emergency services scrambled and some flights were held on the tarmac.
Roberto Carrera, 38, landed at the airport in the midst of the alert at about 19:45 local time.
"The pilot let us know an incident may have happened," he told the BBC in a phone interview.
Mr Carrera said he and other passengers on his flight from Dublin were then held on the tarmac for about an hour before they were allowed to disembark.
He saw police in the terminal but described the atmosphere in the airport as calm overall, despite the disruption.
'Serious event'
The incident was described as a GRIP-3 situation, Dutch officials said, meaning an incident or serious event with major consequences to a local population.The incident was described as a GRIP-3 situation, Dutch officials said, meaning an incident or serious event with major consequences to a local population.
After it became clear the security alert was a mistake, the airport's twitter account confirmed the temporary concourse closures were over. Regulation documents published by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) explain that pilots can use a special transponder beacon code, typing 7500, to raise an alert for unlawful interference in the case of a hijacking.
Schiphol is one of the busiest transport hubs in Europe, handling more than 70 million passengers a year. It remains unclear if this is what happened during the false alarm on Wednesday.
Amsterdam's airport is one of the busiest transport hubs in Europe, handling more than 70 million passengers a year.