Bomb scare: No explosive material found in Delhi-bound plane

Bangalore, July 1: A reported bomb threat on a Delhi-bound Air India plane from Kochi, with 164 people on board, which landed under emergency conditions at the airport here, was a hoax, police said today.

The Airbus 320 (flight AI-047) was searched "thoroughly" after its emergency landing late last night and no bomb or explosive material was detected, Bangalore Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Kamal Pant told PTI.

"Nothing was found. All the baggages were searched thoroughly and the plane was cleared of any bomb or explosive material," Pant said, at the end of the security check of the aircraft that extended from around 10 pm till the early hours of today.

An Air India spokesman said the stranded passengers were sent to Delhi by another flight early this morning. The flight, with 156 passengers and eight crew onboard, had landed under emergency conditions at the Kempegowda International Airport here, following an "unspecific call" about a bomb threat.

After the plane took off from Kochi around 8.40 PM yesterday, there was a call from a man saying that there could be a bomb in the aircraft, the airline and police officials had said, adding the pilot was asked soon thereafter to land at the nearest airport, which was Bangalore.

The Kochi airport had received an "unspecific call" from a person, who had come to the Kochi airport to see off his female friend, according to the airport police here.

The woman contacted him over phone saying that there was lot of frisking going on at the Kochi airport and then she switched off her mobile, which made him panicky and inform Kochi airport authorities about the alleged bomb threat, the officials had said. The bomb detection squad and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which handles airport security, had carried out the search.

PTI