The diversion
An Austrian Airlines flight from Tel Aviv to Vienna was diverted to Sofia on the evening of Sunday, 18 October 2026, after a warning about a suspicious object on board. The Airbus A320-200 with registration OE-LZE was operating flight OS82, which took off from Ben Gurion Airport at 19:04 local time, according to Flightradar24 data cited by 20 Minuten. Reports say the aircraft sent an emergency signal before landing in the Bulgarian capital. Passengers told Ynet that the emergency followed an anonymous report of a bomb on the plane.
Unconfirmed threat
Authorities are examining the aircraft, and no source confirms that an explosive device was found. Notícias ao Minuto reports that Austrian authorities received an anonymous call from Vienna about a suspicious object on board, while The Jerusalem Post, cited by 20 Minuten, says a call from Austria had warned of the item. The origin and credibility of the warning remain unclear. The Israeli Air Force said the incident did not take place in or near Israeli airspace, and that it was not involved.
Passengers and earlier incidents
Passengers have since disembarked, Ynet reports. The aircraft was carrying a delegation of young people who were due to speak at the United Nations. The Sofia landing came less than three weeks after, according to reports, a flydubai co-pilot attempted to crash a flight bound for Tel Aviv, an attempt stopped by the captain and several Israeli passengers. Two bomb threats on flights from New York to Israel earlier in October were later found to be false alarms, according to reports cited by 20 Minuten.