On Wednesday, December 9, a man was arrested in Haarlem in connection with a bomb threat that was reported on an outbound Schiphol flight. The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee (Dutch military police) reported finding no evidence of a bomb on board.
At around 3pm on Wednesday afternoon, the Marechaussee announced on Twitter that they were investigating a suspicious situation on board a plane at the airport, stating that the passengers had been evacuated so that the plane could be searched.
At 6pm they then announced via Twitter that the plane was being searched in connection with a bomb threat, and that a suspect had been arrested in Haarlem. Only an hour later they announced that the search was complete and that nothing suspicious had been found.
The situation meant that various emergency services were called to the scene, including ambulances, a trauma helicopter, and the Dutch police. The Marechaussee haven’t disclosed any information about the flight, but rumours say it was a KLM flight from Amsterdam to Stockholm, Sweden.
The Marechaussee are yet to provide any information about the identity of the suspect or any specifics about the bomb threat. However, aviation journalist Menno Swart told the AD that a threatening letter was found in a rental car before the flight was set to take off.
The man is reported to have been arrested on Wednesday evening. A spokesperson for Schiphol stated that the incident had no impact on other air traffic, and the Marechaussee have said that no one was injured.
The incident comes only days after a firearm was found in the hand luggage of a Romanian woman as she went through security. The woman was arrested and the firearm was confiscated.