Bomb menace forces Tel Aviv to Vienna flight to land in Bulgaria

An Austrian Airlines flight from Israel to Austria has been pressured to divert to Bulgaria after a reported bomb menace.

The Airbus A320 airplane was travelling from Tel Aviv to Vienna on Sunday evening however made an emergency touchdown in Sofia, the place passengers had been evacuated, the Bulgarian transport ministry mentioned in a press release.

The Bulgarian air pressure scrambled a MiG-29 fighter jet to escort the airliner, the transport ministry mentioned. No accidents have been reported and an investigation has begun.

It comes after a pilot tried to hijack a Flydubai flight en path to Tel Aviv final month by attacking the captain, earlier than the flight’s crew and passengers overpowered him and landed the airplane safely in Saudi Arabia.

Bulgarian and Israeli media reported {that a} bomb menace had been made.

Austrian Airlines has confirmed a menace was made, with out giving additional particulars. A spokesperson advised the AFP information company there have been 51 passengers and 6 crew members on board the jet.

Authorities performed a safety search of the airplane after it landed in Sofia, about half-hour from when the alert was first raised. It was over Romania when it diverted to Sofia.

Flight monitoring knowledge confirmed Austrian Airlines 82 left Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Sunday night earlier than touchdown at Vasil Levski airport in Sofia three hours later.

Last week, Croatia and Germany each scrambled fighter jets after a business flight from the Greek vacation island of Corfu to the German metropolis of Nuremberg unintentionally despatched out a hijacking alert.

The BBC has sought additional remark from Lufthansa, the proprietor of Austrian Airlines.