বাংলা | Epaper

বাংলা E-Paper 📍 Dhaka 📅 Monday | 19 October 2026, 3 Kartik 1433 PID registration number 06

HEADLINE

● Durga Puja being held in festive spirit in BD: Trivedi ● State Minister Ishraque prepares resignation, set to submit to PM ● MPO teachers can contest local polls: Minister ● 'Street-cleaning after Fajr is no longer visible' ● Opposition not cooperating on constitutional amendments: Home Minister ● DMP transfers 9 assts commissioners, cancels one officer’s posting order ● Bangladeshi nationalism reserves space for all communities: Rizvi

Bomb scare: Tel Aviv-Vienna flight makes emergency landing

Published : Monday, 19 October, 2026 at 8:51 AM

Observer Online Report

Collected Photo

An Austrian Airlines flight traveling from Tel Aviv to Vienna was forced to make an emergency landing in Bulgaria following a bomb scare.

Al Jazeera reported the incident, citing the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport.

According to the report, the crew received a bomb threat warning on Sunday (October 18) as the aircraft approached the Romanian border. Consequently, the decision was made to divert and land the flight in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia.

To control the situation, a Bulgarian Air Force MiG-29 fighter jet escorted the aircraft through the air and guided it to Sofia Airport.

Transport ministry data indicated that the aircraft was carrying 53 passengers and 6 crew members, all of whom were safely evacuated from the plane. Airline authorities told AFP that a thorough security search of the aircraft was conducted.

Once the search concludes, arrangements will be made to transport the passengers to their destination via an alternative flight as quickly as possible..

The Bulgarian Ministry of Transport has formed a high-level crisis management team to investigate the incident, and relevant authorities have initiated their probe.

Data from flight tracking website FlightAware showed that Sunday's flight departed from Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport at 6:46 PM local time and landed at Sofia's Vasil Levski Airport roughly three hours later.

Data from Flightradar24 indicated that around 9:15 PM, shortly after entering Romanian airspace, the aircraft abruptly turned south and headed back toward Bulgaria.

Additionally, data from another tracking platform showed that the aircraft began transmitting a special "squawk code 7702" to signal an in-flight emergency.

-SA

Also read

Iran warns US, Israel of more devastating response

Prof Yunus, Elon Musk featured on Ravana poster in India

Macron vows stern action against looters

Hatred in their hearts: Trump blames immigrants for unrest in France

2,400 arrested in France amid protest

Oil tanker on fire after hitting mine in Hormuz

Oil prices fall after Trump eases Russia sanctions

I am very worried about election victory: Netanyahu

Editor : Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury

Published by the Editor on behalf of the Observer Ltd. from Globe Printers, 24/A, New Eskaton Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
Editorial, News and Commercial Offices : Aziz Bhaban (2nd floor), 93, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000.
Phone: PABX- 41053001-06; Advertisement: 41053012; 01793317829, 01550707291, E-mail: [email protected], ‍[email protected] Online: email: [email protected] 41053014; 01550707297 Advertisement: 01550707296

🔝