Call about bomb on Delhi-Kathmandu Jet Airways flight was a hoax

Nearly 170 people onboard a Jet Airways flight from Delhi had to be evacuated at Nepal's Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on Sunday after authorities received a threat about a bomb on the plane, briefly halting flight operations.

An unidentified person made a call to the airport authorities saying that explosives have been planted onboard the Jet Airways Flight 260 that took off from New Delhi in the afternoon.

Shortly after the aircraft with 169 people including crew landed at the airport at around 4:30 pm, the passengers were safely evacuated.

Representational image. PTI

Search operations were carried out inside the aircraft which was taken to the isolation area.

Security personnel conducted a thorough check of the plane after a threat alarm was communicated to Jet Airways office in Kathmandu Delhi, officials said.

There was panic in the airport as soon as the news spread.

However, after the inspection was complete, the bomb threat turned to be a hoax. No explosives were found inside the aircraft.

"We had carried a thorough investigation of all the baggage, passengers and aircraft seats, where nothing was found," a senior official at the airport said.

Passengers were safely evacuated from the Jet Airways after it touched down at the airport in Kathmandu.

All domestic as well as international flights were suspended for about an hour due to the incident.

The airport authorities gave the all clear signal at 5:30 pm (local time) after going through necessary investigations.

Earlier, the Jet Airways plane had experienced difficulty in landing due to poor visibility in Kathmandu. The aircraft had to make six rounds above Simara in Bara before making an emergency landing following the bomb threat alert,Himalayan Times reported.

Security personnel, including Nepal Army's bomb disposal squad were mobilised for carrying out search operations.

Security was tightened inside the airport after the threat was received. The flight services were resumed as normal after the search operation.