Passengers evacuated onto LaGuardia tarmac after ‘bomb’ claim

Passengers evacuated onto LaGuardia tarmac after 'bomb' claim

An unhinged passenger caused chaos at LaGuardia Airport Saturday, forcing the evacuation of the plane onto the tarmac when he claimed to have a bomb, according to Port Authority officials and police sources.

The incident happened before 3 p.m. aboard Republic Airlines flight 4817 from Indianapolis, when the unidentified passenger made the terrifying claim, sources said.

“People in the back of the airplane were cursing, yelling “Everyone get out of the airplane! Run! Get out of here!,” passenger Fawad Khuja, 19, told The Post.

The Republic Airlines plane that was evacuated after a suspected bomb threat.
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Police vehicles at the airport after the evacuation.
Police vehicles at the airport after the evacuation.
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“People were yelling ‘bomb, bomb, bomb!’ The slide opened up and I jumped. Everyone ran. People got injured from the slide because people were panicking and shoving. They were falling off left and right.”

“I don’t know if the bomb was fake or real but he did say he had one.”

All passengers were evacuated a little after 3pm as firefighters waited for bomb squad officers to show up.

A spokesman for the Port Authority said there was no indication of a threat to the plane.

A passenger on the ground with emergency responders near the airplane after the evacuation.
A passenger on the ground with emergency responders near the airplane after the evacuation.
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Passengers on the taxiway at LaGuardia Airport.
Passengers on the taxiway at LaGuardia Airport.
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American Airlines, which operates Republic, confirmed a “potential security issue” on board.

Video on Twitter showed a man believed to be the suspect, spread-eagled on the tarmac after being arrested.