Airport Bomb Scare “A Hoax”

The threat was issued shortly after 2:45 p.m.

  Assistant Commissioner of Police Hulan Hanna told the Journal last night that police were called to the Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) yesterday to investigate. Police officers, Emergency Medical Personnel (EMS), Nassau Flight Services agents and Nassau Airport Development (NAD) rescue squads were all mobilized.

A bomb sniffing dog was also on the scene.

  A Nassau Flight Services worker, who spoke with the Journal under the condition of anonymity, said the aircraft was parked on the apron waiting to take off when the captain called to say that he had just received a bomb threat.

  "After that, the pilot was instructed to remain parked where he was so that police, airport security and fire services crew could assess the problem," she said.

  "The assessment continued until 7:00 p.m. The passengers were deplaned and the airplane was later searched."

  The worker said the entire ordeal infuriated many passengers. There were 111 passengers onboard – 109 adults and two infants.  

  "The passengers were irate and annoyed. They couldn’t understand why they had to go through all of those procedures. They had to deplane and were searched again along with their bags. They had to get their belongings from off of the aircraft, as you could imagine, it was a tedious process," she said.

  "After they got the ok that no bomb was onboard they were safe to fly. We apologized for the inconvenience and they were ready to go. The process was long for the passengers and for us. That was the first time in a number of years that a bomb scare has been called in."

  Last evening several police cars and emergency vans were spotted speeding towards the airport. Many people got out of their cars and homes to see what was going on.