A Lion Air flight which took off from the Sultan Thaha Airport in Jambi was forced to turn back and make an emergency landing after it received a bomb threat from a passenger this morning.

The passenger, believed to be a policeman, claimed he was carrying a bomb in his bag when the plane took off for Jakarta.

According to online media merdeka.com, as soon as the plane touched down at Jambi Airport at 8am, a special bomb disposal squad checked the passenger's bag but no explosive was found.

Operations manager of Angkasa Pura II airport management company, Gurit Setiawan was quoted as saying the passenger was believed to be from the police force and had a police authority card.

He said the man who claimed he was just humouring the crew was detained by a special police team in Jambi to facilitate investigations.

This is the second time this year, a policeman was involved in a hoax bomb threat while on a plane in Indonesia.

Last January, a police officer from the forensic unit in Bali was arrested for claiming he was carrying a bomb after passing through security and baggage screenings at the Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport, Makassar in South Sulawesi.

Like the latest case, the policeman also said he was merely joking with airport security guards after the security checks.