“After the negotiator spoke to the captain we were certain there were no
hijackers on the plane,” said Mr Peelen.
The Vueling airline said the incident had resulted from a “misunderstanding”
after the passenger jet made a manoeuvre and then could not be contacted by
air traffic controllers.
“There was never any danger. There was a lack of communication between the
pilot and the tower and the airport activated the security protocol,” said a
spokesman.
A similar incident, involving the same flight, had occurred over France last
year triggering the scrambling of a French Mirage 2000 fighter jet.
Passengers had no idea that their aircraft was at the centre of a hijacking
alert or that they had been intercepted by Dutch warplanes.
“First we circled, then we landed and the pilot said there was no problem in
the plane, but that there was a problem at the airport,” said Felice
Roedema, a passenger.
“Everything is normal, everybody is relaxed as there’s nothing going on.”
The security alert came as part of Schiphol airport had already been evacuated
with delays to flights after construction workers digging a trench unearthed
a 1,100-pound German Second World War bomb. The bomb was safely removed by
late afternoon.
