Passengers on a Virgin Australia flight from Sydney to Albury were caught off guard when they were instructed to "get out and run, run, run," as soon as the plane landed. Reports said that the passengers jumped from the plane onto the tarmac after the surprise instruction.
In an article published by BBC, a passenger on the 8:05 a.m. flight told reporters that they were evacuated as soon as the Virgin Australia plane landed at the Albury Airport about 9:15 a.m. Some said that the doors of the plane were already starting to rip off and passengers were instructed to leave their luggage after an alleged threat was discovered.
A police statement reads that Albury police received information that a note was located on an item in the toilets of an airplane going to Albury. In a report by News.com.au, a 30-year-old male passenger of Virgin Australia plane was arrested on the tarmac and was taken away by the police.
According to the report, the guy was later charged withsl sending document threatening death or grievous bodily harm and giving false information, putting person/property in danger. The guy arrested in the Virgin Australia flight will carry maximum penalties of 10 and five years in jail, respectively, if proven guilty.
In another narrative of the Virgin Australia passenger, a Sydney retiree Wendy Williet, who was sitting in the aisle opposite the man, described the ordeal as terrifying. She said the passengers of the plane did not notice anything wrong until the plane landed and they saw swarms of police.
"People were making a few comments like 'who's been a naughty boy,' but then the air hostess started shouting and she was saying 'evacuate, evacuate. Leave all your belongings, jump out the window,'" Willet told reporters. She also said that it was "really scary" as she was worried that she would not be able to jump from the Virgin Australia plane, but she eventually did with the help of the police force.
This incident in Virgin Australia comes less than a week after a Malaysia Airlines flight was forced to return to Melbourne after a man demanded to see the pilot and threatened to explode a device he claimed was a bomb. Passengers of the plane restrained him, only finding out that the "bomb" is only a Bluetooth speaker
