An Austrian Airlines plane that departed from Tel Aviv for Vienna, Austria, made an emergency landing at Sofia Airport, the capital of Bulgaria, following concerns about a suspicious object aboard the aircraft.
According to reports, an emergency code was activated during the flight over concerns about an unusual item or a suspicious object. The aircraft was subsequently diverted from its route and landed in Sofia.
Passengers were informed that an “anonymous bomb threat against the aircraft" had been received, prompting emergency procedures and a change in the flight’s route.
At this stage, it remains unclear what object triggered the alert or whether the passengers were ever in danger. The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation.
A similar incident occurred last week, when a Delta Air Lines plane arriving at Ben Gurion Airport from the US raised security concerns following an anonymous report that a bomb had been planted aboard.
Following the report, the aircraft was moved to a remote parking stand at Ben Gurion Airport, and all passengers disembarked safely. Security personnel conducted a thorough search of the plane to rule out the presence of an explosive device.
After the checks were completed, the Israel Airports Authority announced that no suspicious findings had been discovered and that the airport had returned to routine operations.
“The aircraft was thoroughly searched by Ben Gurion Airport security personnel. The incident concluded with no unusual findings. Operations have returned to normal," the authority said at the time.