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Flight from Israel to Austria makes emergency landing after bomb threat
A search of the aircraft found no threat, with the plane subsequently continuing the journey to Vienna
A flight from Israel to Austria was forced to make an emergency landing in Bulgaria late on Sunday after a bomb threat, with the Bulgarian air force scrambling a fighter jet to escort the passenger plane to Sofia International Airport.
The Austrian Airlines flight from Tel Aviv to Vienna was flying over Romania when the threat was first made, according to reports. It landed in Bulgaria a half an hour later, where checks of the flight found no threat on board. The flight, which was carrying 51 passengers and six crew, subsequently completed its journey to the Austrian capital.
Flights to and from Israel have been closely monitored ever since an attempted hijacking last month, where an Omani crew member of a Flydubai flight heading to Israel attacked the pilot and attempted to seize control of the aircraft. While Flydubai Flight 1073 plunged thousands of feet in a matter of seconds, the pilot, Captain Smit Machchhar, who had been injured, managed to open the cockpit door, allowing Israeli passengers to subdue the co-pilot, named as Hamam al-Hammami. The flight, which had 172 passengers on board, including 150 Israelis, and 8 crew members, subsequently landed in Saudi Arabia.
In a statement from Austrian Airlines, the carrier said: “We confirm that there was a threat against flight OS82 on October 18, 2026, from Tel Aviv to Vienna, which made it necessary for the flight to make an intermediate landing in Sofia.
“During the search of the affected aircraft, the passengers, and the crew, no danger was identified.”
Last week, a Delta Airlines flight landing at Ben Gurion was swiftly evacuated after an anonymous call alleging that a suspicious package was on board. The plane was swiftly moved to a remote area of the airport for checks, but nothing unusual was discovered.
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