Austrian Airlines Flight From Israel Diverts to Bulgaria After Bomb Threat
By The Media Line Staff
An Austrian Airlines passenger plane flying from Tel Aviv to Vienna made an emergency landing in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Sunday evening, October 18, after a reported bomb threat prompted Bulgarian fighter jets to escort the aircraft to safety. All 51 passengers and six crew members disembarked safely.
The Airbus A320, operating as flight OS82, was approaching the Romanian border when its crew reported the threat and changed course, according to Bulgaria’s Transport Ministry. The aircraft landed at Sofia’s Vasil Levski Airport, where authorities began security inspections.
Bulgaria’s Defense Ministry said the alert was transmitted at 9:17 p.m. local time while the aircraft was in Bulgarian airspace. MiG-29 fighters were dispatched under NATO’s air-policing arrangements, coordinated with the alliance’s Combined Air Operations Centre in Torrejón, Spain.
A joint response team was established to investigate the threat. Authorities had not reported finding explosives or identified the source of the warning.
The Lufthansa Group, Austrian Airlines’ parent company, confirmed that security checks were underway and said arrangements were being made to transport the passengers to Vienna on another aircraft.
“The safety of passengers and crew members is always our top priority,” the company said.
Israeli media reported that the diversion followed an anonymous warning about an explosive aboard the aircraft. The warning’s origin and credibility remained unclear.
The incident follows another aviation security alert on October 13, when a Delta Air Lines flight arriving at Ben Gurion Airport from New York was evacuated following an anonymous bomb threat. Israeli airport authorities subsequently reported that a search uncovered nothing suspicious.
On September 30, a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv diverted to Saudi Arabia after its co-pilot allegedly attacked the captain and attempted to seize control of the aircraft. Passengers and crew intervened, and the aircraft landed safely. Authorities in the United Arab Emirates launched an investigation.
No evidence has emerged linking those incidents to Sunday’s Austrian Airlines bomb threat.
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