After receiving a bomb threat on Saturday night, a Wizz Air flight from Israel to Poland was evacuated shortly after landing. Injuries were recorded during the emergency evacuation of passengers onto the tarmac by the aircrew.
On Saturday at around 6:45 p.m., Wizz Air flight W65098 departed from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport for what was supposed to be a typical three-hour flight to Krakow, Poland’s second-largest city.
The Wizz Air-operated Airbus A321 landed at the John Paul II Kraków-Balice International Airport and taxied to a distant area of the airfield before the evacuation was announced.
The second evacuation following bomb threats against Wizz Air flights occurred in less than a week.
Some passengers on the trip on Saturday night claim the plane sat on the ground with the doors closed for more than 30 minutes before the order to evacuate was given. The flight crew then made a bomb threat announcement and issued an evacuation order.
Only when there is an imminent and life-threatening risk may passengers be evacuated using emergency slides, according to industry standards. It is widely accepted that using slides to evacuate presents a significant danger of injury, hence the advantages of evacuation must balance the risk of injury.
Local authorities have not yet confirmed whether the evacuation was ordered as a consequence of a bomb threat made over the phone or because of information suggesting the flight was in jeopardy.
Children may have been wounded during the evacuation, according to witnesses. Before security personnel with sniffer dogs came, passengers were hustled onto the tarmac.
Following a bomb threat against the aircraft on Wednesday, a Wizz Air flight from Bari, Italy to Krakow was detoured to Budapest and evacuated via emergency slides.
Security personnel kept the airplane on the ground for more than six hours before concluding that the threat was a hoax. Wizz Air claims that by using slides to evacuate customers, their staff adhered to the proper protocol.
