January 30, 2008	Wednesday	Muharram 20, 1429

RAWALPINDI, Jan 29: A bomb scare that delayed a Pakistan International Airlines flight on Tuesday morning was a hoax, authorities said.

No explosives were found after a search, and the PIA flight took off for Istanbul after it was declared safe, authorities said.

President Musharraf’s VVIP flight, coming from United Kingdom, touched the Islamabad airport about 15 minutes before the emergency landing of the flight PK-300.

Spokesman for the PIA said Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-300 with 181 passengers on board took off from Karachi for Islamabad at around 7 am on Tuesday. He said after about 55 minutes of take-off, the authorities in Karachi received an anonymous call a bomb has been planted in the plane.

The spokesman said after receiving the call the emergency services had been put on alert at Islamabad as it was not possible for the plane to return to Karachi.

The plane landed at about 9 am at “isolated bay” of the airport set aside for emergencies and the passengers on board were evacuated.

The plane and the baggage of the passengers were searched by the bomb disposal experts but failed to find any explosive and termed the call as hoax. Later the plane was cleared for take off.

The spokesman said another PIA flight PK-761 that was to take off for Istanbul on early Tuesday morning was delayed after getting no clearance from Turkish authorities for the aircraft authorities.