Brussels Airport reopened after bomb scare

blackhawk · Post by **blackhawk** » 23 Feb 2007, 20:15

Luchthaven Zaventem ontruimd na bomalarm

BRUSSEL - Op de luchthaven van Zaventem is omstreeks 19 uur een bomalarm afgekondigd. De aankomsthal is ontruimd, meldt de luchthavenuitbater Biac

Brussels Airport has been evacuated due to a bomb scare.

http://www.standaard.be/Artikel/Detail. ... 022007_112
http://www.vrtnieuws.net/nieuwsnet_mast ... ndex.shtml

L-1011 · Post by **L-1011** » 23 Feb 2007, 20:56

Since I'm taking a flight on sunday, I was asking myself the following thing:

Because the flightops have not been stopped (to my knowledge), do any flights take off without passengers if they are unable to arrive at the airport due to the roadblock (not mentioning the evacuated departure hall):?:

Do arriving flights permit people to deplane

In this particular case, if a passenger misses a flight , will the airline be obliged to transport him for free on another flight and give him accomodation if necessary, or is this "force-majeure" not covered

ciao,
TriStar

Atlantis · Post by **Atlantis** » 23 Feb 2007, 21:14

At 21H the building was clear, the bomb threat was fake. The army found two packages.

Pax can now again in and out the building.

LX-LGX · Post by **LX-LGX** » 24 Feb 2007, 00:06

Lesson for Brussels Airport after today's event: respect the client (= the passenger), and use your public address system to advise them what's happening.

Two different foreign passengers told the same story on TV = they didn't know what was going on.

airazurxtror · Post by **airazurxtror** » 24 Feb 2007, 09:59

In "Le Soir" this morning, the account of one of its journalists who was arriving from Milan at that moment.
According to her, there was complete chaos on the arrival side, nobody knowing what was happening exactly nor what to do - not even the very few policemen present there.
The public address system was working but only to remind everybody that smoking was not allowed on the premises, bomb or no bomb !

Atlantis · Post by **Atlantis** » 24 Feb 2007, 10:35

airazurxtror wrote:In "Le Soir" this morning, the account of one of its journalists who was arriving from Milan at that moment.
According to her, there was complete chaos on the arrival side, nobody knowing what was happening exactly nor what to do - not even the very few policemen present there.
The public address system was working but only to remind everybody that smoking was not allowed on the premises, bomb or no bomb !

Is a journalist not the worse person to gave his/her opinion? They always saying that things are going bad. So what I read here above is that she "interviewed" policemen or is it blowed up??

What I saw yesterday evening on the VRT journal was totally different. The arriving pax were escorted to the baggagehall to pick up their things, after that they were again escorted to the arriving hall. That's not chaos, that's organised chaos.

Be shore that the event of yesterday will be evaluated. Glad that everything was ok.

744rules · Post by **744rules** » 24 Feb 2007, 17:02

I suppose BIAC and the security services had their reasons for not using the PA-system.

Can you imagine what will be happening if a lovely voice says in different languages : Ladies and gentlemen, we have a major bombing alert at the airport but there is nothing to worry about.

SN30952 · Post by **SN30952** » 24 Feb 2007, 17:38

Atlantis wrote:Is a journalist not the worst person to give his/her opinion? They always saying that things are going bad.

Depends what journalist, of course...
Some think because their reporting is a chaos, whole the world is a chaos.
But the worse thing is, some politicians read their papers, and believe it...

Imagine such a journalist is suddenly amidst a real crisis? What will his/her reporting than be? Some journalists think they can critisize each and everybody, based on the fact they are journalists.

Can someone remind this event. In the centre of Brussels, quite some years ago, the police found a suspect case. So they had the bomb squad come to take it away. But these guys went for safety first, so they had their remote controlled apparatus have a shot on the case first. Nothing exploded. The content were sandwiches and some papers. And you know who the case belonged to? A radio-journalist, who only showed up after all and everything was cleaned up.

Now that's the kind of guy who reports about chaos.... or was it bomb alarm?

Leave the professionals do their work, please.

airazurxtror · Post by **airazurxtror** » 24 Feb 2007, 17:59

SN30952 wrote: Some journalists think they can critisize each and everybody, based on the fact they are journalists;

Leave the professionals do their work, please.

Quite a few journalists are honest and report what they have seen. The journalist I quote was in the arrival area when the bomb alarm happened. Were YOU ??
Some think that because it's Brussels Airport, it's above all criticism. Far from it, gentlemen !
Leave the professionals do their work ? Yes, if they do it properly. If they make a mess of it, they deserve to be criticized, and why not ? Who do they take themselves for ?
Once more, in this instance, the passengers were considered as "self-loading cargo". That is not the first time at Zaventem...

Tompompier · Post by **Tompompier** » 24 Feb 2007, 19:51

It's always easy to give comments on situations like this. You can practice on this as much as you like, but when it really happens it practically always ends up with chaos, and lots of comments that it wasn't organized.

But the truth is, that when these things happen, all kind of things have to be done in very short time, in this case, in a couple of minutes. People have to be evacuated (priority), security has to be granted, etc..... At these moments, you are always short of people to do all that has to be done. As a fire fighter i have experience with such sort of things.

So, please think twice, before giving comments.

Tompompier

airazurxtror · Post by **airazurxtror** » 24 Feb 2007, 20:29

Brussels airport extorts exorbitant charges and taxes from the traveller.
In return, the traveller is entitled to demand a high level of service and professionalism - not an organization that collapses at the first difficulty.
And a bomb threat is not - should not be - a wholly unexpected occurence in an airport.

SN30952 · Post by **SN30952** » 25 Feb 2007, 06:10

Tompompier wrote:... when these things happen, all kind of things have to be done in very short time, in this case, in a couple of minutes. People have to be evacuated (priority), security has to be granted, etc..... At these moments, you are always short of people to do all that has to be done. As a fire fighter i have experience with such sort of things.
So, please think twice, before giving comments.
Tompompier

The guy who calls in for a bomb has basically one purpose: create panic, havoc, chaos.

It takes a few minutes to assess the problem.
These are crucial minutes. These minutes have to be trained, because initial evaluation mistakes can be lethal.
As far as I can see, where was I indeed, airazurxtror, nobody got hurt.
What was better? Resolve the situation on inter-human level, man-to-man or create a stampede via the PA address?

The training of such exceptional alarm, let us hope, is under the authority of the Governor of Vlaams Brabant, and therefor the scenarios are written in Dutch. Orders are consequently given. That might be a reason enough for a Le Soir journalist to attack it, but who will tell?
btw, the chain of command @ EBLG or EBCI is in French, for the same reason.

What we are talking here is DISASTER PREPAREDNESS, PLANNING AND RESPONSE.
And that's quite new, I actually read about a IATA training a few month ago: Disaster Planning and Relief Management for Civil Aviation Authorities.

Info:
Dienst rampenplanning en noodhulpverlening, tel. 016-26 78 50, rampenplanning@vlaamsbrabant.be
Dienst algemene zaken & specifiek toezicht politiezones | dienst politie & openbare orde | dienst rampenplanning & noodhulpverlening
DIENST RAMPENPLANNING EN NOODHULPVERLENING
Provincieplein 1, 3010 Leuven

Provinciaal coördinator rampenplanning en noodhulpverlening:
Peter HUYGAERTS, adviseur, tel. 016-26 78 05, rampenplanning@vlaamsbrabant.be
Adjunct-adviseur:
Martine VERBEECK, tel. 016-26 78 52, Joël VANHERLE, tel. 016-26 78 50, rampenplanning@vlaamsbrabant.be
Leidend ambtenaar cel rampenschade:
Marie-Claire LOOZEN, tel.: 016-26 78 16, rampenplanning@vlaamsbrabant.be

* redactie en updating van het algemeen provinciaal rampenplan;
* redactie en updating van bijzondere rampenplannen;
* controle op de gemeentelijke rampenplannen;
* operationele bestrijding van rampen op provinciaal niveau;
* cel rampenschade;
* Seveso- en nucleair fonds;
* brandweer;
* organisatie, personeelsformatie, uitrusting en werking van brandweer;
* verdeling van de brandweerkosten onder de gemeenten;
* exploitatievergunningen (ioniserende stralen, springstoffen);
* opeisingen bij sociale conflicten in vitale sectoren;
* organisatie provinciale rampoefeningen.

Verder moet gezegd dat:
In België (Vlaanderen is bedoeld) het onderscheid tussen algemene en functionele keten veel duidelijker is dan in Nederland. De Gouverneur wordt hier niet gezien als de provinciebestuurder, maar juist als de in de provincie werkzame federaal bestuurder. Tot 1 januari 2002 was de Gouverneur ook in formele zin federaal bestuurder. Sindsdien is hij werkzaam onder de Vlaamse regering, echter wel met federale taken in het kader van de rampenplanning.

Of daar de franstalige journalist achter was gekomen? waarschijnlijk niet, want die leest geen Nederlands....
Sinds 1 januari 2002 is de Vlaams Brabantse Goeverneur werkzaam onder de Vlaamse regering, echter wel met federale taken in het kader van de rampenplanning. ( tot spijt van wie het benijdt, blijkbaar...)

airazurxtror · Post by **airazurxtror** » 25 Feb 2007, 09:12

In "De Zondag" vanmorgen :

Lodewijk De Witte, de gouverneur van de Provincie Vlaams-Brabant, gaat morgen maandag met de betrokken diensten overleg plegen over de procedure die gevolgd werd bij de evacuatie van de luchthaven vrijdag.
De Witte heeft vernomen dat er vele klachten waren van passagiers over de communicatie en het evacuatie plan.
"De procedure die men al dan niet gevolgd heeft en de wijze waarop de evacuatie is voorlopen, waren niet perfect", zegt De Witte.

<Edit: please make a small summary in English>

LX-LGX · Post by **LX-LGX** » 25 Feb 2007, 10:33

Translated:

The Flemish Sunday newspaper "De Zondag" also reveals that mr De Witte, the governor of the province, will discuss the matter with Brussels Airport on Monday.

My comments about this:

1) seems that Brussels Airport has no tape yet with "Ladies and gentlemen, this is an emergency alert from the police. Please evacuate the aiport building by the nearest entrance or exit".

2) or the person who has the autority to start that tape, works only 9 to 5.

3) the real problem for the governor is not the chaos at the airport on itself, but the chaos the traffic jam at the airport terminal causes on the roads within 3 kms from the airport = the N201 and the Brussels Ring (for foreigners: the airport is situated next to the major freeways around Brussels).

4) I saw many unhappy pax who have missed their flight. Next time: Aussies, please tell outgoing flights they have to wait (= they only may stop boarding) till the chaos at the parking and check-in is over.

Atlantis · Post by **Atlantis** » 25 Feb 2007, 11:18

Let the evaluation over to the professionals, we don't have to make it.

PS: no single airport in the world is perfect, so let do the police, government, firebrigade, etc do their work.

SN30952 · Post by **SN30952** » 25 Feb 2007, 13:01

Nobody is perfect?
Aristoteles thought me, so many years ago,
[listthat ]perfection is something that is complete -it does not miss anything.
Or that it is so good it does not need improvement.
And 3, that something is perfect when it gives you the result that is expected.[/list]

So Mr de Witte will work on the passengers claims about communication and the evacuation plan.

But his staff will tell him, they cannot make an omelet without braking eggs.
The point will be not to smear bystanders.

About perfection, keeping a double agenda is far from perfect. That's why politicians and journalists are not perfect.

SN30952 · Post by **SN30952** » 27 Feb 2007, 08:27

What did you read in the press:
Het evacuatieplan voor de luchthaven van Zaventem zal grondig bijgestuurd worden. Dat zijn de gouverneur van Vlaams-Brabant, de hulpdiensten, de luchthavenuitbater en de burgemeester van Zaventem maandag overeengekomen. Vooral de coordinatie op het terrein moet efficienter en de evacuaties moeten toegespitst worden op concrete situaties zoals een bommelding of een brand.
You don't need a translation, it was on LZ during the weekend already.

SN30952 · Post by **SN30952** » 27 Feb 2007, 15:39

Het ziet er naar uit dat Brussel Zuid, ook zijn evacuatieplan gaat herzien?

Today: bomb alert at Brussels South station: train traffic has been thoroughly disturbed.