Passengers on a Saturday flight from Israel to Poland were ordered to carry out an emergency evacuation from the aircraft due to fears of a bomb on board.
Wizz Air flight W65098 from Ben Gurion Airport to Krakow in Poland landed at 10.30 p.m. local time but was immediately diverted to an isolated part of the runway area, the Ynet news site reported Sunday.
Passengers said that after they landed, the plane initially waited for half an hour on the tarmac after which cabin crew announced that there was suspicion of a bomb on the plane and ordered an evacuation.
It was unclear if a message had been sent warning of a bomb or if the evacuation was the result of intelligence.
Eti Mesilati, a passenger on the flight, told Ynet that those on board were told there was an emergency situation and that they must immediately leave the aircraft.
“They opened up the emergency chutes for the plane and we went out. We stood in an open area until the police, security and ambulances arrived,” she said.
Passengers told Ynet that some children were hurt during the exit from the aircraft. Travelers were then left standing near the plane and claimed that neither the airline, airport staff, or anyone else attended to them, according to the report.
Eventually security forces arrived, including a sniffer dog and each passenger was checked.
Passengers had still not received their luggage or left the airport by early Sunday morning, according to the report.
“There is total chaos here,” Mesilati said and explained she was still waiting for her bags. “No representative from the airline has made contact with us and they have not updated us on what happened.”
Ynet said it had been given no response from Wizz Air, or officials from Israel or Poland.
There has been no indication so far that a bomb or other suspicious object was found on the plane.
It was the second such incident involving the Wizz Air budget airline within the last week.
Last week Wizz Air flight W65058 from Bari in Italy to Krakow was diverted to make an emergency landing in Budapest, Hungary, due to a bomb threat. In that case too passengers were ordered off the plane via its emergency chutes.
Wizz Air told the Hungary Today website at the time that “The aircraft crew and the airline’s operations control center acted according to the relevant protocol.”
It said authorities later confirmed that it was a false threat.
