High alert as Phuket Airport handles ‘bomb on plane’ call

Phuket International Airport went on high alert just after midday when a call was received saying that there was a bomb aboard an AirAsia flight that was due to land in five minutes.

Air Asia flight FD 3003 left Don Muang international Airport in Bangkok at 10:55am and was due to land in Phuket at 12:15 with 167 passengers and six crew aboard.

The bomb call came in at 12:10.

Makin Petplai, the President of Airports of Thailand, which owns and operates the airport, issued a statement this afternoon saying, “Officers immediately took action. When the flight landed the pilot was instructed to move the airplane to the Isolated Parking Area.

“Passengers were evacuated and their bags unloaded onto the tarmac. Then security and bomb disposal officers had the passengers identify their bags, which were searched.”

The airline and the passengers all gave full cooperation, he said, and no bomb was found.

“Everything is fine, nothing happened. It was a hoax call. The aircraft left Phuket Airport again at 3:08pm, arriving back at Don Muang at 4:28pm.

“We have lodged a complaint with Tah Chat Chai Police asking them to track down the person who made the call,” Mr Makin said.

“Our safety plans meet the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization, and we also have annual emergency simulations. This year the rehearsal will take place on August 27 and 28.”

Phuket News

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