An Austrian Airlines flight traveling from Tel Aviv to Vienna was forced to make an emergency landing in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Sunday after the crew received a bomb threat while airborne, according to the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport.
Flight OS82, operated with an Airbus A320, was near the border with Romania when the threat was received, prompting the flight crew to divert toward the Bulgarian capital, the ministry said in a statement. As the aircraft approached Bulgarian airspace, the Ministry of Defence deployed an air force MiG-29 fighter jet to escort the passenger plane safely to Sofia Airport.
Initial reports from the Bulgarian Transport Ministry indicated that the aircraft was carrying 51 passengers and six crew members. All individuals on board successfully disembarked following the landing. Austrian Airlines told the AFP news agency that a thorough security search of the aircraft was initiated immediately after arrival. The airline stated that passengers would be rebooked onto alternative flights as quickly as possible once the search was completed.
In response to the incident, Bulgarian authorities established a crisis response team, and relevant agencies launched an official investigation into the origin and nature of the bomb threat.
Flight-tracking data from FlightAware showed that Austrian Airlines Flight 82 departed Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Sunday at 6:46 p.m. local time, which was 15:46 GMT. The aircraft landed at Vasil Levski Airport in Sofia approximately three hours later at 9:43 p.m. local time, or 18:43 GMT. Data from Flightradar24 indicated the plane entered Romanian airspace at roughly 9:10 p.m. before executing a southward turn back toward Bulgaria. Additional tracking data from ADS-B Exchange showed the aircraft transmitting squawk code 7700, the universal indicator for an in-flight emergency, around the same timeframe.
The diversion comes amid heightened regional aviation security concerns following an incident last month involving a Flydubai flight bound for Israel. In that event, a Flydubai aircraft carrying 174 passengers from the United Arab Emirates experienced a severe mid-air disturbance when a co-pilot allegedly attacked the pilot with an axe in an apparent attempt to crash the plane.
That aircraft plunged approximately 17,000 feet, or 5,180 meters, before other crew members and passengers intervened to subdue the alleged attacker and regain control of the plane. The flight was subsequently diverted to Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk, located in northwestern Saudi Arabia.
United Arab Emirates authorities later stated that the co-pilot, identified as Omani national Hamam Al-Hammami, was on a suicide mission directed at Ben Gurion Airport. Al-Hammami has since faced terrorism charges in the UAE. In the wake of that incident, the Israeli government ordered identity checks for all pilots operating flights into the country.
