Emergency services have been rushed to Schiphol airport as a result of what the Marachuessee are calling a “suspicious situation”. According to sources within the military police, it is likely a plane hijacking.
UPDATE 21:08: Air Europa has confirmed that a pilot mistakenly triggered the hijacking alarm and apologised for the incident on Twitter.
#AirEuropaInfo False Alarm. In the flight Amsterdam – Madrid, this afternoon was activated, by mistake, a warning that triggers protocols on hijackings at the airport. Nothing has happened, all passengers are safe and sound waiting to fly soon. We deeply apologize.
— Air Europa (@AirEuropa) November 6, 2019
UPDATE 20.45: Whatever the situation is, the Dutch military police at Schiphol have signalled that all passengers and crew are safe and not on board anymore.
Passengers and crew are safely off board. On-site research is still continuing. https://t.co/hZvl0Dq5ig
— Schiphol (@Schiphol) November 6, 2019
Authorities became aware of the situation during the boarding of the plane. The pilot of the aircraft would have pressed a hijack alarm button to raise the alarm. About 27 passengers had boarded the aircraft at that point.
Update: ik ben van m’n stoel bij het raam weggehaald, wordt uit veiligheidsoverwegingen vrij gehouden. #Schiphol pic.twitter.com/g36ewH7Coy
— Bas (@Bas_vanderSande) November 6, 2019
NOS reports that Jos van Dongen, a reporter from Zembla, is at Schiphol. According to him, the D pier is cleared and cars with tinted windows drove towards gate D5. He was sent away by the Marechaussee, just like the other travellers.
Geen idee of het klopt, maar kreeg dit doorgestuurd via via #Schiphol pic.twitter.com/v5xEjHUtwI
— Martijn Lugtmeijer (@MLugtmeijer1995) November 6, 2019
Situation at Schiphol is still unclear
It’s important to note that official sources haven’t confirmed this news yet, but several reliable sources are calling it a hi-jacking in process:
– Kaping gaande
– Eisen opstijgen vliegtuig
– Paniek aan boord
– Arrestatieteams onderweg
– F16 boven Schiphol bijna.Dit vliegtuig zal Schiphol niet verlaten. F16 onderweg voor eventuele onderschepping. #Schiphol
— Guido (@envirosec) November 6, 2019
False alarm at Utrecht Central Station
There was also an alarm at Utrecht Centraal station, but this appears to have been a false alarm: someone set off the fire alarm by accident.
Oke misschien toch iets aan de hand #utrechtcs #schiphol pic.twitter.com/DyWb4uZ9m9
— Daniël (@dwit1234) November 6, 2019
We will continue updating this article as more information emerges from Schiphol.
Feature image: DutchReview/archive
