An Austrian Airlines Airbus A320 flying from Tel Aviv, Israel, to Vienna, Austria, made an emergency landing in Bulgaria after receiving a bomb threat, Bulgaria's Transport Ministry announced on Sunday.
According to the ministry, flight OS82 was near the Romanian border when the crew received the bomb threat and decided to divert to the capital, Sofia. Bulgaria's Defense Ministry said a MiG-29 fighter jet from the country's air force escorted the aircraft to Sofia airport.
Initial reports indicated there were six crew members and 51 passengers on board; all disembarked, the Transport Ministry said. The airline told AFP that a security inspection of the aircraft had been carried out.
"After the aircraft inspection is complete, passengers will be rebooked onto alternative flights as soon as possible," the airline said.
Bulgaria's Transport Ministry also said a crisis response team had been set up and authorities had opened an investigation.
According to data from flight-tracking site FlightAware, Austrian Airlines flight 82 departed Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv at 6:46 p.m. local time on Sunday (1546 GMT) and landed about three hours later at Vasil Levski Airport in Sofia at 9:43 p.m. (1843 GMT).
Flightradar24 data showed the aircraft entered Romanian airspace at about 9:10 p.m. (1810 GMT) before turning south and heading back toward Bulgaria. ADS-B Exchange reported that around the same time the aircraft transmitted squawk code 7700, the general emergency signal.
Earlier Flydubai Incident
Last month, a Flydubai aircraft carrying 174 passengers en route from the United Arab Emirates to Tel Aviv had its first officer accused of attacking the captain with an axe in an attempt to bring the plane down.
The aircraft plunged about 17,000 feet (5,180 meters) before other Flydubai co-pilots regained control, after passengers and crew members subdued the suspect. The flight was then diverted and forced to make an emergency landing at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk, northwestern Saudi Arabia.
UAE authorities said the first officer was carrying out a "suicide mission" to bring the plane down at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. The first officer, Hamam Al-Hammami, an Omani national, was charged with terrorism in the UAE. The Israeli government responded by requiring identity checks for all pilots flying into the country.
