New Delhi Jan 23: A Mumbai-bound GoAir flight carrying 150 passengers on board was diverted to Nagpur due to a hoax bomb call.
The flight, which took off from Bhubhaneswar at 0820 hours landed at Nagpur at 0929 hours safely, the airline said.
GoAir flight G8 243 took off from Bhubaneshwar for Mumbai at 8.20 AM and post receiving the bomb threat call, was diverted to Nagpur and landed at 9.29 AM,” GoAir said.
All the 150 passengers were deplaned immediately after the plane landed and the security agencies carried out a thorough search of the passengers, their baggage and the aircraft.
“However, no bomb was found onboard the aircraft,” GoAir said. The aircraft has been cleared for departure to Mumbai. The local police is investigating the matter, GoAir said.
Meanwhile, security checks were stepped up on flights at the Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar after the incident, said Airport Director Sharad Kumar.
He said three hoax bomb calls were received at around 0842 hrs and the caller, who spoke to the airport manager, was using filthy and vulgar language. The caller was speaking in Hindi and Odia.
While steps were taken for diverting the GoAir flight to Nagpur, two other planes bound for Mumbai and Delhi were also thoroughly checked by the bomb squad and nothing was found, he said, adding all steps were taken as per the standard operating procedure.
The telephone number from which the calls were received has been given to the police, Kumar said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Satyabrat Bhoi said investigation was in progress and efforts were being made to trace the caller.
