The Dutch Royal Military police, or Koninklijke Marechaussee as they are known locally, have confirmed via social media that they are investigating a “suspicious situation” onboard a passenger plane at Amsterdam’s Schipol International Airport (AMS).
In a statement on the Marechaussee’s official Twitter account, a spokesperson said passengers had now been evacuated from the aircraft and part of Pier D at the airport remained closed while investigations continued. Police officers are currently searching the aircraft after a bomb threat was received and a suspect has been arrested.
Pier D is the largest departures pier at Schipol and has two levels to deal with flights departing and arriving from both within the Schengen area and further afield. The police spokesperson did not immediately say what airline was involved in the incident and what had prompted the police investigation.
Local Dutch media report police and other emergency services were called to the plane at around 3.50 pm on Wednesday afternoon following a so-called GRIP 2 report which means the incident could affect an area beyond its initial location and requires centralised coordination of emergency services.
The Algemeen Dagblad reported the presence of an emergency medical helicopter at the airport.
Last November, police closed down the whole of Pier D following reports of an attempted hijacking onboard a plane that was preparing to depart. It transpired that the Captain of an Air Europa operated Airbus A330 bound for Madrid prompted the security alert when he went to show the First Officer where the emergency transponder was located.
In the process of telling his colleague about the hijacking process, the Captain accidentally set off the transponder resulting in a full-scale emergency. The situation was made worse when air traffic controllers weren’t initially able to get hold of the pilots.
A fleet of ambulances was despatched to the airport, although emergency services were quickly stood down when it became apparent that the incident was a false alarm.
