A man has been charged after a threatening note was found in the toilet of a Virgin plane travelling from Sydney to Albury.
Passengers aboard flight VA1174 were evacuated from the turboprop as soon as it stopped on the tarmac at Albury Airport about 9.30am on Tuesday.
NSW Police say emergency services were called after a note written on a sick bag was discovered in the plane’s toilet by another passenger as it approached Albury.
“It was just someone being very silly,” a police spokeswoman later told AAP.
“What this is showing is we do take things very seriously.
“At the end of the day he caused a lot of angst and frightened a lot of people.”
A 30-year-old man who was among the 42 passengers on the flight was arrested on the tarmac and taken to Albury Police Station.
He was later charged with sending a document threatening death or grievous bodily harm and giving false information.
The man was released on bail to appear in Albury Local Court on July 4.
AAP understands the note was just one word and suggested possible danger on board.
The arrested passenger was said to be calm throughout the flight. He read a novel and went to the bathroom once.
Local police congratulated cabin crew and passengers for the swift evacuation.
“The plane landed at 9.35am and within five minutes we had the plane and the occupants secure and safe,” Albury commander Superintendent Evan Quarmby told reporters.
“All of the occupants of the aeroplane were evacuated safely, very efficiently and should all be congratulated on the assistance they’ve given to police this morning.”
It was initially reported the doors of the plane were “ripped off” by authorities but Virgin later clarified they were opened from the inside, likely by cabin crew.
Passengers were told to leave their luggage and jump about 1.2 metres from the exits onto the tarmac.
Sydney retiree Wendy Willett said a hostess shouted: “Evacuate, evacuate. Leave all your belongings, jump out the window.”
Another passenger told AAP he heard cabin crew saying: “Leave your luggage. Get out and run, run, run.”
A Virgin spokeswoman said crew denied saying that, however.
She suggested a passenger caught up in the commotion may have yelled out “run, run, run”.
Michelle McNamara, who works for a car hire company in the airport terminal, said police, firefighters and ambulance crews closed off half the terminal during the operation.
"It's normally quiet. It's Albury Airport," she said.
"It's a bit concerning. With all that's happening in the world, it makes you think the worst."
The Albury incident comes a week after a mentally ill man threatened to blow up a Malaysia Airlines flight after it left Melbourne Airport.
Terrified passengers waited 90 minutes to be evacuated from the plane after it landed back at Tullamarine. They didn't know at the time the bomb threat was a hoax.