An Austrian Airlines flight from Tel Aviv to Vienna diverted to Bulgaria on Sunday after a reported bomb threat prompted the crew to make an emergency landing in Sofia, according to Bulgarian authorities and the airline.
The aircraft landed safely in the Bulgarian capital, where passengers were evacuated and security teams began searching the plane for possible explosives. Bulgaria’s Transport Ministry said the threat was reported as the aircraft approached Romanian airspace, prompting the crew to change course and head for Sofia.
As part of established emergency procedures, the Bulgarian air force scrambled a MiG-29 fighter jet to escort the passenger aircraft, the ministry said. Authorities subsequently established a crisis response team and launched an investigation into the incident.
Austrian Airlines told Agence France-Presse that 51 passengers and six crew members were aboard the Airbus A320. The aircraft landed in Sofia approximately 30 minutes after the threat was reported, and a security search began following the evacuation.
“Once the search of the aircraft is complete, the passengers will be rebooked onto alternative flights as quickly as possible,” the airline said.
Flight-tracking data provided by Flightradar24 showed that the aircraft, registered as OE-LZE, entered Romanian airspace at around 9:10 p.m. before turning south towards Bulgaria. It subsequently landed in Sofia.
Data from ADS-B Exchange, another flight-tracking platform, indicated that the aircraft was transmitting squawk code 7700 around the same time. The code signals a general emergency and alerts air traffic control that an aircraft requires urgent attention. It does not, by itself, identify the nature of the emergency.
The incident comes amid other recent security alerts involving commercial passenger flights in Europe and the Middle East.
Late last month, a flydubai flight travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv was involved in a separate incident in which the co-pilot allegedly attacked the captain and planned to deliberately crash the aircraft. According to reports, the captain, passengers and other crew members intervened and prevented the alleged plan from being carried out.
Last week, Croatia and Germany also scrambled fighter jets after a commercial flight travelling from the Greek island of Corfu to Nuremberg, Germany, accidentally transmitted a hijacking alert.
The circumstances surrounding the Austrian Airlines bomb threat remain under investigation. Bulgarian authorities have not announced the findings of the aircraft search or identified the source of the threat.
