An Austrian Airlines flight travelling from Tel Aviv to Vienna made an emergency landing in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Sunday night following a reported bomb threat.
Flight OS82, an Airbus A320, was near the Romanian border when the crew received the threat and decided to divert to the Bulgarian capital, according to the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport.
The Bulgarian air force scrambled a MiG-29 fighter jet to escort the aircraft to Sofia's Vasil Levski Airport. All 51 passengers and six crew members disembarked safely. No injuries were reported.
Authorities conducted a security search of the aircraft after it landed, approximately 30 minutes after the alert was first raised. No threat was found. The flight subsequently continued to Vienna with all passengers on board.
Flight tracking data showed the aircraft left Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Sunday at 6:46 p.m. local time (15:46 GMT) and landed in Sofia approximately three hours later, at 9:43 p.m. (18:43 GMT). Tracking data indicated the plane entered Romanian airspace at around 9:10 p.m. (18:10 GMT) before turning south toward Bulgaria. Data from one tracking platform showed the aircraft was transmitting squawk code 7700, a signal for a general emergency, at around the same time.
Austrian Airlines confirmed a threat had been made but did not provide further details. The airline said a crisis response team was established and that relevant authorities had launched an investigation into the incident.
The Bulgarian Ministry of Transport confirmed the incident in a statement on Sunday. Bulgaria's Ministry of Defence confirmed the MiG-29 escort.
The incident follows a series of aviation security events in the region. Last month, a Flydubai aircraft carrying 174 passengers was travelling from the United Arab Emirates to Tel Aviv when a co-pilot allegedly attacked the pilot with an axe in an attempt to crash the plane. The aircraft plunged approximately 17,000 feet (5,180 metres) before other crew members and passengers subdued the alleged attacker and brought the plane back under control. The flight was diverted to Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk, northwestern Saudi Arabia. Authorities in the UAE said the co-pilot was on a suicide mission to crash the plane at Ben Gurion Airport. The co-pilot, identified as Hamam Al-Hammami, an Omani national, has since been charged with terrorism offences in the UAE. The Israeli government responded by ordering identity checks on all pilots flying into the country.
Last week, Croatia and Germany both scrambled fighter jets after a commercial flight from the Greek island of Corfu to the German city of Nuremberg accidentally transmitted a hijacking alert.
