Terrified passengers evacuate plane after 11-year-old leaves note claiming there's a bomb and signs off as 'the terrorist'
A Vueling plane at the Canary Island of Fuerteventura airport was evacuated on Tuesday as terrified passengers ran across the runway after an 11-year-old boy wrote a note saying that there was a bomb on board and signed the note as "the terrorist."
The mayhem on the runway was photographed by a plane spotter as the 180 passengers on board the flight were told to evacuate just minutes before take-off.
The plane was set to head for the Spanish mainland Santiago de Compostela on Tuesday night.
After the letter was handed to the pilot, claiming a device with glycerin inside was hidden on board, the officials on the plane began emergency procedures.
The passengers, frightened by the news, ran across the tarmac to safety while the aircraft was isolated and police and crew rushed to the scene.
The interior of the plane was searched by the Civil Guard and police dogs, however, nothing was found inside the plane and it was later declared to be a false alarm, the Daily Mail reported.
The Armed Command Institute of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria officers later reported that they had identified the culprit, who turned out to be an 11-year-old. Reports state that he was interviewed along with his parents.
Fuerteventura airport remained operational throughout the alert, the airport authority AENA said.
One passenger on board the plane, while talking to Canarias7.es, said that they were waiting for the plane to take off when another passenger folded out his flight tray and found the hand-written note tucked inside.
He alerted a stewardess about the note, who reported it to the pilot. The pilot said that, according to the protocol, he had to ask all the passengers to evacuate: "Everyone was very good, there was no hysteria," he said.
The boy reportedly said that the note was written as "a joke." It is not yet known whether he will be prosecuted in the incident.