Tel Aviv-Vienna flight makes emergency landing in Sofia over bomb threat

Emergency landing in the Bulgarian capital

On Sunday, a plane belonging to Austrian carrier Austrian Airlines, operating a flight from Tel Aviv to Vienna, made an emergency landing in Sofia. The cause was the crew receiving a message about a bomb threat. There were 51 passengers and six crew members on board the Airbus A320 aircraft.

Timeline of events and course change

According to information obtained from flight tracking service Flightradar24, the plane changed its route at 21:25, heading towards the Bulgarian capital. Data from the ADS-B Exchange platform indicates that at approximately this moment, the crew transmitted code 7700, which is the international signal for an emergency situation on board.

As stated in an official statement by the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport, the message about the bomb threat was received when the plane was in the air near the border with Romania. It was then that the crew decided to make an emergency landing in Sofia.

Military response and security check

To ensure safety and escort the aircraft, a MiG-29 fighter jet from the Bulgarian Air Force was scrambled. After the Airbus A320 landed and passengers were evacuated, the Security Service began inspecting the aircraft, Austrian Airlines reported.