City Airport evacuated as passenger running late sets off fire alarm in bid to delay plane

 
Evacuation: airport passengers wait outside the terminal building (Picture: Twitter/@christophewuyts)
Rachel Blundy18 June 2014

London City Airport was evacuated yesterday after a passenger who was running late for a flight to Germany triggered a fire alarm.

The passenger, who was due to travel on a British Airways flight to Frankfurt, reportedly smashed the alarm in an attempt to gain access to the plane from another gate after being blocked from boarding it.

Staff were forced to carry out a full evacuation of the terminal after the alarm went off at about 2.45pm.

Police were called to the scene following the incident but the person was not arrested, Scotland Yard said.

Fire alarm: airport staff on the terminal forecourt (Picture: Twitter/@kirkboster)

It is understood the passenger was subsequently allowed to board another flight after being quizzed by officers.

A City airport spokeswoman said: "The alarm was triggered around 2.45pm and a full evacuation carried out.

"The source was quickly identified and staff and passengers were able to re-enter the building around 15 minutes later."

She added: "Lovely though Frankfurt is, the person who triggered the alarm will probably, with hindsight, wish they had taken it on the chin and re-booked as the matter was taken up by police."

Disgruntled passengers posted pictures of the evacuation on Twitter.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">Today's fire alarm caused by late running pax trying to stop a flight! Pushed the button - caused a full evacuation. Words fail...— London City Airport (@LondonCityAir) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/LondonCityAir/statuses/478940351164846080" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-228286-https://twitter.com/LondonCityAir/statuses/478940351164846080" data-vars-event-id="c23">June 17, 2014</a>

Christophe Wuyts, a corporate real estate professional from Antwerp, wrote: "Fire alarm at London city airport. Building evacuated. Passengers on tarmac".

Speaking to the Standard, he said the passenger who pressed the alarm should face punishment.

"Fire alarms are not put in place to catch flights," he said.

A Metropolitan police spokesman said today the incident had been dealt with "in house" and there was no further investigation into the matter.

A spokesman for British Airways said: "A passenger due to travel on the BA8734 flight to Frankfurt yesterday was extremely late arriving at the departure gate at London City Airport.

"By the time he did arrive the aircraft had pushed back, the passenger had been offloaded and the British Airways ground staff had left the area.

"The passenger then tried to gain access to another gate area by smashing the fire alarm to release the doors. Once the fire alarm was activated the terminal building was evacuated."

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