An anonymous call that a bomb had been placed in an incoming Gulf Air flight created panic at the international airport, but a thorough search by security personnel proved it to be a hoax.
Airport security, local police and bomb squad searched the aircraft and the premises of the airport after the airport duty manager received a call on Friday morning, which said that a bomb had been placed in the Muscat-Thiruvananthapuram Gulf Air flight, airport sources said.
The official immediately alerted the airport security and local police, who launched an intense search which lasted about an hour.
The flight, whose scheduled arrival was at 6.45 am had landed at 7.45 am.
Its return to Muscat was delayed for about two hours due to the scare, the sources said.
