Bomb hoax delays flight

Chennai, Oct 15 (UNI) A Colombo-bound Sri Lankan Airlines flight got delayed for over four hours following a bomb threat call received by security personnel at the Anna International Airport here today.

Airport sources said the flight was about to take off when the caller informed security on his mobile that a bomb had been planted aboard the aircraft and that it might go off any moment.

Following this, the Air Traffic Control instructed the pilot to stop the flight immediately and asked all the 302 passengers and crew to disembark.

The aircraft was taken to an isolated place where bomb disposal squads conducted a thorough check of the passenger and cargo areas.

However, the search did not yield anything.

The aircraft was allowed to depait by 1350 hrs instead of the scheduled 1050 hrs.

The Airport Duty Manager said the caller might have pulled the hoak delay the flight. Efforts are on to trace him.

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