SOFIA — An Austrian Airlines flight from Tel Aviv to Vienna has made an emergency landing at Sofia airport in Bulgaria following a reported bomb threat, authorities said..Flight OS82 was near the border with Romania when the crew received the threat and decided to land in the Bulgarian capital, where passengers were evacuated, the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport said in a statement on Sunday. Bulgaria’s Ministry of Defense said an air force MiG-29 fighter jet escorted the Airbus A320 plane to Sofia airport.No injuries have been reported and an investigation has begun.The incident comes after a pilot attempted to hijack a flydubai flight en route to Tel Aviv last month by attacking the captain, before the flight’s crew and passengers overpowered him and landed the plane safely in Saudi Arabia.Last week, Croatia and Germany both scrambled fighter jets after a commercial flight from the Greek holiday island of Corfu to the German city of Nuremberg accidentally sent out a hijacking alert.Austrian Airlines has confirmed a threat was made, without giving further details. A spokesperson told the AFP news agency there were 51 passengers and six crew members on board the jet.Authorities conducted a security search of the plane after it landed in Sofia, about 30 minutes after the alert was first raised. “Once the search of the aircraft is complete, the passengers will be rebooked onto alternative flights as quickly as possible,” the airline said.A crisis response team has been set up, and relevant authorities have launched an investigation into the incident, the Bulgarian Transport Ministry said.According to aviation and flight tracking site FlightAware, Austrian Airlines 82 left Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Sunday at 6:46 pm local time (15:46 GMT) and landed about three hours later at Vasil Levski airport in Sofia at 9:43 pm (18:43 GMT).Flightradar24 data showed it entered Romanian airspace at about 9:10 pm (18:10 GMT) before turning south and heading back towards Bulgaria.Information from the flight-tracking platform ADS-B Exchange indicates the aircraft was transmitting squawk code 7700 – a signal for a general emergency – at around the same time.SOFIA — An Austrian Airlines flight from Tel Aviv to Vienna has made an emergency landing at Sofia airport in Bulgaria following a reported bomb threat, authorities said..Flight OS82 was near the border with Romania when the crew received the threat and decided to land in the Bulgarian capital, where passengers were evacuated, the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport said in a statement on Sunday. Bulgaria’s Ministry of Defense said an air force MiG-29 fighter jet escorted the Airbus A320 plane to Sofia airport.No injuries have been reported and an investigation has begun.The incident comes after a pilot attempted to hijack a flydubai flight en route to Tel Aviv last month by attacking the captain, before the flight’s crew and passengers overpowered him and landed the plane safely in Saudi Arabia.Last week, Croatia and Germany both scrambled fighter jets after a commercial flight from the Greek holiday island of Corfu to the German city of Nuremberg accidentally sent out a hijacking alert.Austrian Airlines has confirmed a threat was made, without giving further details. A spokesperson told the AFP news agency there were 51 passengers and six crew members on board the jet.Authorities conducted a security search of the plane after it landed in Sofia, about 30 minutes after the alert was first raised. “Once the search of the aircraft is complete, the passengers will be rebooked onto alternative flights as quickly as possible,” the airline said.A crisis response team has been set up, and relevant authorities have launched an investigation into the incident, the Bulgarian Transport Ministry said.According to aviation and flight tracking site FlightAware, Austrian Airlines 82 left Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Sunday at 6:46 pm local time (15:46 GMT) and landed about three hours later at Vasil Levski airport in Sofia at 9:43 pm (18:43 GMT).Flightradar24 data showed it entered Romanian airspace at about 9:10 pm (18:10 GMT) before turning south and heading back towards Bulgaria.Information from the flight-tracking platform ADS-B Exchange indicates the aircraft was transmitting squawk code 7700 – a signal for a general emergency – at around the same time.
Bomb threat forces Tel Aviv-Vienna flight to make emergency landing in Bulgaria
