MUSCAT:A Jet Airways plane heading for Dubai from Mumbai was diverted to Muscat and made an emergency landing there after a bomb threat was received by the airlines on Thursday afternoon.
The plane was taken to an isolated bay at the Muscat airport, where a search was conducted but no explosives were found. It took off after 9 pm.
A Tweet about a bomb was posted from an account in Punjab and was spotted by Jet Airways staff at 1.30 pm and soon after the plane was readied for an unscheduled landing in Muscat by Mumbai airport staff. The Tweet had said:
“Bomb ... in Jet Airways 9W 536 from Mumbai to Dubai dep at 1225 from csia... operation Badla...”. The plane - flight number 9W 536 - had left Mumbai
at 12.40 pm with 60 passengers on board.
"The airport was closed as we had received a signal from the airline for purpose of emergency landing. A code five was initiated by the airlines and this is generally for bomb threat," Muscat airport official told reporters.
“Jet Airways flight 9W 536, which departed from Mumbai at 1246 hrs for Dubai, was diverted to Muscat due to a bomb threat. The aircraft with 54 guests and 7 crew on board landed safely in Muscat at 1320 hrs local time (1450 hrs India). All guests and crew disembarked without any incident and were taken to the airport terminal. After a thorough search by the Omani security agencies the aircraft was cleared for onward journey. The flight departed Muscat at 1945 hrs local time (2115 hrs India) for Dubai. We regret the inconvenience caused to the guests and thank them for their patience, calmness and understanding,” Jet Airways stated.
Two days ago, a Turkish Airlines plane made an emergency landing at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi after a message was spotted on a bathroom mirror about a bomb in the cargo section. However, nothing was found in search. The plane was heading Istanbul from Bangkok.
