Bulgarian authorities have launched an investigation and questioned several people in the capital, Sofia, after an Austrian Airlines flight traveling from Tel Aviv to Vienna made an emergency landing following a bomb threat.
Israeli media quoted a passenger as saying that travelers were informed, as the aircraft prepared to land, that an anonymous caller had reported a person carrying a bomb on board.
The passenger added that Bulgarian police searched travelers with the assistance of sniffer dogs, checked their identification documents and passports, and took several people in for questioning.
Lufthansa Group, the German aviation group that owns Austrian Airlines, said the aircraft had landed safely in Sofia and was undergoing inspection. The company added that passengers would be transferred to an alternative flight as soon as possible after the security checks were completed.
In a statement, Portugal’s Transport Ministry said the flight crew had reported a bomb threat while the aircraft was near the Romanian border, prompting the decision to divert to Sofia.
The ministry also said a Bulgarian Air Force fighter jet escorted the aircraft until it landed at the airport.
Data from flight-tracking website Flightradar24 showed that the Airbus A320 had been scheduled to depart Tel Aviv for Vienna at 6:40 p.m. before being diverted to Sofia, where it landed at 9:25 p.m.
Israeli media reports indicated that the threat was received after the aircraft had left Israeli airspace and was flying near the border between Bulgaria and Romania.
The aircraft was carrying 51 passengers and six crew members. No final details have been released regarding the results of the inspection or the nature of the threat.
