London City Airport was evacuated after a passenger who was running late for a flight to Germany triggered a fire alarm.
The passenger, who was due to travel on a British Airways flight to Frankfurt, is said to have smashed the alarm in an attempt to gain access to the plane from another gate after being blocked from boarding it.
Staff were forced to carry out a full evacuation of the terminal on Tuesday after the alarm went off at about 2.45pm.
Police were called to the scene following the incident but the person was not arrested, Scotland Yard said.
A City airport spokeswoman said: "The alarm was triggered around 2.45pm and a full evacuation carried out.
"The source was quickly identified and staff and passengers were able to re-enter the building around 15 minutes later."
BA told the Standard: "A passenger due to travel on the BA8734 flight to Frankfurt yesterday was extremely late arriving at the departure gate at London City Airport.
"By the time he did arrive the aircraft had pushed back, the passenger had been offloaded and the British Airways ground staff had left the area.
"The passenger then tried to gain access to another gate area by smashing the fire alarm to release the doors. Once the fire alarm was activated the terminal building was evacuated."
A spokesman said: "A passenger due to travel on a flight to Frankfurt arrived late and was unable to travel. A subsequent incident was dealt with by London City Airport."
