Bomb hoax forces emergency landing of Jet flight

A Jet Airways flight, traveling from Kuwait to Mumbai and carrying 160 people, made an emergency landing at Muscat airport on Friday after a bomb scare on board that turned out to be a hoax. Omani authorities received a tip off that a bomb might be aboard the Boeing 737-800 aircraft, following which they alerted the crew.

The crew then decided to divert to Muscat where the airplane landed safely at 1 am local time, about two-and-a-half hours after departure from Kuwait, The Aviation Herald reported. It said that a subsequent search of the aircraft, luggage and passengers found no trace of any explosives.

The plane later took off and landed in Mumbai at 9.40 am on Friday.

"Jet Airways flight 9W 571 from Kuwait to Mumbai today made an unscheduled landing at Muscat following a security incident on board. As a precautionary measure, the Boeing 737 landed in Muscat and a thorough check of baggage and cargo was carried out," a spokesperson of the airline said.

"Safety is of paramount importance and every precaution is taken to ensure a high standard of operational safety," she said.