Austrian Airlines Flight Diverts to Bulgaria After Bomb Threat, No Device Found

An Austrian Airlines flight from Tel Aviv to Vienna made an emergency landing in Sofia, Bulgaria, on October 18, 2026, after a bomb threat.

CEST. The plane carried 51 passengers and 6 crew members. Pilots declared a general emergency with squawk code 7700 while cruising at 38,000ft over Bulgarian airspace. A MiG-29 fighter jet from the Bulgarian air force escorted the aircraft to Sofia Airport. After landing, passengers were evacuated, and a thorough search of the aircraft, passengers, and crew was conducted.

No bomb or danger was identified, and the threat, reportedly made in a call from Austria by an Austrian national not on the plane, was determined to be a hoax. Following the all-clear, Flight OS82 re-boarded all passengers and continued its journey from Sofia to Vienna later that night. The Bulgarian Transport Ministry stated the crew reported receiving the bomb threat at the border with Romania.

Authorities have launched an investigation into the incident. This event follows other recent aviation security concerns. Less than three weeks prior, an Omani co-pilot on a Flydubai jet from Dubai to Tel Aviv allegedly attacked the captain with an axe in an attempt to seize control and crash the aircraft into Ben Gurion Airport. Passengers and crew overpowered the assailant, and two off-duty pilots helped land the plane in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu subsequently ordered tighter security checks on foreign airline crews and a comprehensive review of security procedures. On October 13, two Delta Air Lines flights between New York and Tel Aviv also experienced bomb threats, both of which were cleared after security inspections found no explosives.