A busy airport had to be evacuated after a passenger that was running late pulled the fire alarm in an attempt to be able to board his flight.
The passenger was blocked from boarding his British Airways flight to Frankfurt, Germany at London City Airport because he was running late, so he smashed the fire alarm to try to gain access to the plane from another gate, Independent.co.uk reports.
Due to the fire alarm being pulled, the airport terminal was evacuated by staff at 2:45 pm. Passengers had to leave the airport and wait 15 minutes before they were allowed to re-enter. Scotland Yard was called the the scene and questioned the suspected passenger that pulled the alarm but not arrests were made.
A British Airways spokesperson spoke about the incident, saying "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."
A City Airport spokesperson commented on the incident, saying "Once an aircraft has started its engines there's little you can do to get onboard if you're late, short of clinging to the undercarriage - which we obviously wouldn't recommend. 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."
London City Airport tweeted about the incident, saying "Today's fire alarm caused by late running pax trying to stop a flight! Pushed the button - caused a full evacuation. Words fail..."
British Airways would not say if the passenger was allowed to board a later flight after the incident occurred.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
