INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

JFK Bomb Threat Forces Alitalia Passengers To Evacuate

By Dieter Holger
Published on: 12:53 PST, Jun 14, 2015

On Sunday, a bomb threat was issued for inbound Alitalia flight AZ604 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, forcing passengers to evacuate immediately upon landing. The flight came from Milan, carrying businesspeople and tourists alike. When the passengers were evacuated, all their baggage had to be kept on-board during the inspection for security reasons, RT reports.

Fortunately, the bomb threat, which was issued by the TSA to the Alitalia airline company, turned out to be a false alarm.

Emergency responders — some wearing hazmat suits — boarded the plane to handle any explosives they might encounter.

Passengers had to wait on buses for at least an hour and a half for their belongings to eventually be delivered to them. RT notes that some reports claimed the belongings were taken off the passenger jet and then put back on, before reaching their respective owners. During the security check, it was unclear if the procedure was due to a bomb threat, according to passenger Maxim Sorim’s Tweets, New York Daily News reports.

“Taken off plane, no bags, no explanation, not telling us anything.”

Until, Alitalia eventually announced that the evacuation was due to a bomb threat.

Maxim Sorim also told ABC 7 New York that passengers, heading to Rome, were allowed back on the plane a little before 6 p.m.

Photos uploaded on Twitter showed emergency responders, police, and vehicles around Alitalia flight AZ604.

Alitalia later announced that “All passengers disembarked without any problem.” But, although necessary, the security response to the bomb threat did inconvenience the passengers.

The bomb threat comes at a time when there have been a series of recent airline scares.

CBS reported on June 6 a bomb threat which forced Delta Flight 2371 from Minneapolis to be held at Sacramento International Airport for hours before being cleared to enter the terminal.

And on May 25, ABC News reported on two F-15 fighter jets having to escort Air France flight 22 to JFK airport due to a perceived “chemical weapons threat.” The FBI would later clear the plane of any danger, announcing “no incidents or hazards reported on board the flight by either the passengers or its crew.”

Thankfully, all these recent bomb threats have not been credible. Most likely, many of these threats are caused by cruel pranksters.

[Photo via Twitter]

Share this article: JFK Bomb Threat Forces Alitalia Passengers To Evacuate
New York New York City
More from Inquisitr