Bomb Threat Forces Vienna-Bound Austrian Airlines Flight into Emergency Landing in Sofia

An Austrian Airlines flight travelling from Tel Aviv to Vienna changed course and made an emergency landing on Sunday night after a bomb threat. The aircraft, operating as flight OS82, was heading towards the Austrian capital, Vienna, but after the threat was reported it was diverted to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. The incident once again triggered a major security response in the skies.

The aircraft was an Airbus A320. It was carrying 51 passengers and six crew members. In other words, an emergency developed while the flight was in the air with a total of 57 people on board. As an allegation such as a bomb threat can never be taken lightly, a quick decision was taken to choose the most suitable airport at which to bring the aircraft down.

After diverting, the flight made an emergency landing at Sofia's Vasil Levski Airport. The period before the landing was the most anxious, because it was still not known whether the threat was real. In the end, however, the aircraft was able to land safely, and no injuries were reported among the passengers or the crew.

Bulgaria's military also joined the effort to protect the flight while it was in the air. A Bulgarian MiG-29 fighter jet escorted the aircraft. The sight of a passenger plane being taken under fighter escort to an airport other than its destination shows just how seriously the authorities took the threat.

A security search was carried out on the aircraft after it landed. Giving the highest priority to the safety of the passengers and crew, the entire aircraft was examined. Until that search and inspection process was complete, there was no opportunity to take any decision about the flight's onward journey. It was initially reported that no one had been injured in the incident.

An investigation into the entire incident is under way. Investigators are seeking answers to questions including where the threat came from, how it was communicated and whether anyone was behind it. Even if a bomb threat proves to be false, there are precedents for strict action against those involved in such incidents, because a single threat changes an entire flight's journey and forces emergency measures across an airport.

Sunday night's incident came in continuation of several other security scares in European skies in recent weeks. In each case, major decisions such as diverting a flight, making an emergency landing or scrambling fighter jets had to be taken to ensure passengers' safety. As a result, these incidents have also created concern among ordinary travellers.

In another such incident last month, a Flydubai flight was forced to divert. On that occasion, after an attack in the cockpit, the aircraft was diverted to Saudi Arabia. An incident such as an attack centred on the cockpit in mid-air is considered one of the most serious security threats in civil aviation, and that incident, too, generated widespread discussion.

Only last week, in another incident, a hijack alert was issued by mistake. When that alert was accidentally sent on a flight from Corfu to Nuremberg, Croatian and German fighter jets took to the air. It later emerged that the alert had been sent in error. Even so, the rapid response of the two countries' militaries after receiving the alert shows that no report of risk in the skies is ignored any more.

These successive incidents have cast fresh light on aviation security systems in Europe and the surrounding skies. Whether a threat is real or an alert sent by mistake, the first decision in every case is to bring the passengers down safely to the ground. That same principle was followed in Sunday night's incident in Sofia, and as a result all 51 passengers and six crew members remained unharmed.

More details about the nature of the threat are expected to become known once the investigation is complete. Until then, the incident will remain another warning for airlines, airport authorities and security agencies. For the passengers of flight OS82, which landed in Sofia under MiG-29 escort, Sunday night was a long and anxious one, but in the end everyone was able to land safely, and that is the most reassuring aspect of this incident.