LANZHOU - A plane made forced landing at the Jiayuguan Airport in Northwest China's Gansu province at around 5:40 pm Thursday, local authorities said.

The flight was heading for Urumqi, capital of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, after taking off from Beijing Nanyuan Airport in China's capital, according to a local police source.

A female passenger claimed that there was a bomb inside the plane, threatening to blow off the aircraft, said Chang Shouyuan, head of the municipal Public Security Bureau of Jiayuguan.

Local police have detained the passenger after the forced landing and are searching the plane for the asserted explosive.