Tel Aviv/Vienna: Plane has to make an emergency landing in Sofia after a bomb threat

Since the incident involving the Flydubai plane at the end of September (more here), flights to and from Israel have been under special observation. Now there has been another incident. Due to a bomb threat against an Austrian Airlines plane on its way from Tel Aviv in Israel to the Austrian capital Vienna, the plane made an emergency landing in Bulgaria.

The crew decided to land in the capital Sofia, the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport announced on Sunday. The passengers were brought to safety after landing.

There were 51 passengers and six crew members on board, Austrian Airlines told the AFP news agency. After landing safely in Sofia, a search of the Airbus A320 was initiated about half an hour after the bomb threat. As soon as this is completed, passengers will be rebooked onto alternative flights as quickly as possible, the airline said.

According to Flightradar24, the plane entered Romanian airspace at around 9:10 p.m. before turning south and flying back towards Bulgaria, then landing in Sofia. According to the flight data platform ADS-B Exchange, the aircraft issued a distress signal at the same time. According to the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport, the country's air force sent a MiG-29 fighter pilot to accompany the airliner. According to the Ministry of Transport, a crisis team has been set up. The responsible authorities have opened an investigation into the incident.

Jet accidentally sent a distress signal

At the end of last month, the co-pilot of a Flydubai plane on the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv attacked the plane's captain with a rescue axe. Passengers were able to overpower the attacker, and a second cockpit crew traveling on board landed the plane with 166 passengers and eight crew members safely in Saudi Arabia.

At the beginning of last week, a commercial airliner coming from the Greek island of Corfu accidentally sent the code 7500, which indicates a hijacking. In addition, the pilot could not be reached via radio at times. As a precautionary measure, two Bundeswehr military aircraft accompanied the airliner on its way to Nuremberg Airport. According to the police, an inspection after the safe landing revealed no danger.

At first it seemed as if the heroic deed of the Flydubai passengers could benefit Benjamin Netanyahu in the election campaign. Instead, the averted attack once again reveals gaps in Israel's supposedly seamless security architecture. More here.