New Zealand Man Charged After Another Bomb Scare and Evacuation at Gladstone Airport

The local Gladstone Observer newspaper reports that a 41-year-old New Zealand man has been charged with causing a bomb hoax, after police received information about an incident at the Gladstone Airport terminal building on Tuesday 1 April.  The man had reportedly alluded to having a possible explosive device in his luggage.

This comes days after a Belgian tourist was fined $1500 for a similar bomb hoax late last week.

The scene at Gladstone Airport last Friday  (File photo by Jamie  ©)

The call came to police in about 1.15pm on Tuesday, leading to the terminal being evacuated.  They expressed frustration at having a second evacuation in less than a week.

The evacuation affects hundreds of passengers travelling to and from Gladstone Airport.  QantasLink (Cobham Aviation) Boeing B717-200 VH-NXG landed and was forced to wait on the main taxiway at Gladstone Airport until the 'all-clear' was given for it to taxi to the terminal area.

The Gladstone Airport Corporation hoped people would consider the consequences before making 'offhand remarks' at the airport, as they had to be treated extremely seriously.