Setting off an airport fire alarm to make a flight and 6 more terrible false alert stories

People take drastic measures when time isn't on their side, but some go a lot further than you'd imagine

Getty Fire alarm
Late: A fire alarm was pulled to buy some extra time

The revelation that a passenger set off an airport fire alarm in a bid to catch a flight may sound shocking.

But the British Airways customer, who arrived late for his plane from London to Frankfurt, is just one of many desperate individuals prepared to spark false alarms.

From funny to bizarre, tragic to enraging, some people will go to extreme lengths to get what they want - or just to cover up wrongdoing.

The bosses

Google Maps Robbs department store, Hexham, Northumberland
Sacked: The department store gathered their staff

Bosses of a department store in Hexham, Northumberland, set off the fire alarms in order to get customers out of the store and bring their staff together at a single assembly point – then sack them all.

All 140 workers at the Robbs store were told it was a false alarm then told they would lose their jobs within a fortnight.

The graduate

Reuters Danielle Shea
Student: Danielle Shea had been bunking off

Earlier this year a student at a school in Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, US, wanted to cover up the fact she had actually been bunking off her studies for the previous year by staging a bomb hoax on what her parents thought was her graduation day.

Danielle Shea, 22, went so far as to turn up to the ceremony with her cap and gown and her mother, who had paid thousands of dollars for her arts and science course.

But police traced her number and found her in the campus gym.

The fans

Getty JLS
Fire: JLS woke upon hearing the alarm

Fans of pop band JLS had no qualms about setting fire alarms off in the group's hotel room.

When the X-Factor stars were woken in the night and evacuated from the building in 2009 it meant their army of devotees finally got up close and personal with their heroes – though the prospect of being trapped in a waiting group of manic teenage girls was almost as frightening as being trapped in a burning building.

The reporter

Getty International Vienna Airport
Delay: The reporter didn't want to miss his flight

In 2008 an unnamed German sports reporter staged a bomb scare inside Verona Airport in Italy because he who was late for his plane to cover the European Championships.

He called police to say an explosive device had been planted on the Air Dolimiti flight to Vienna in order to delay its take off after he arrived at the terminal to discover he was too late to check in.

The airport was closed for about two hours and two incoming flights were forced to land at another airport.

The groom

PA Neil McArdle arrives at Liverpool Crown Court
Jailed: Neil McArdle paid the price for this false alarm

After forgetting to book the venue for his wedding day, Neil McArdie, 36, panicked and staged a bomb hoax just as his bride-to-be, Amy Williams, turned up in her dress.

Last year, just 11 days after the Boston Marathon bombing, she arrived to find the St George's Hall in Liverpool closed and crawling police.

When the building re-opened an hour later it was revealed that the booking had never been made and he was arrested by police and eventually jailed for 12 months.

The inmates

PA HMP Oakwood in Featherstone, Staffordshire
Jail: Inmates staged a plan to get items thrown into their cells

When the fire alarms went off at HMP Oakwood in Featherstone, Staffordshire, last year the inmates didn't fear for their lives – they were jumping for joy.

It turned out they were deliberately triggering the alarms because doing so automatically opened the windows and prisoners were able to “fish” for parcels which had been thrown over the walls using makeshift rods and hooks.

The parcels invariably contained mobile phones or drugs.

The steward

Getty British Airways Boeing 747 aeroplane plane aircraft
Carrer: Matthew Davis was after a promotion

British Airways steward Matthew Davis, 22, of West Sussex, staged a bomb hoax on a jet so he could look like a hero and bag a promotion.

He was jailed for six months, however, when, in 2012, it was discovered he had written on a toilet door: “The bomb on board will explode at 16.00GMT unless our demands are met.”

Fortunately the pilot of the London to Tokyo flight realised it was a hoax and he found himself in court and without a job.


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