No Bomb Found on London–Sofia Flight Escorted to Budapest

A passenger aircraft travelling from London to Sofia was escorted by a Hungarian fighter jet and landed safely at Budapest Airport following a bomb threat. The information was provided by Hungary’s Minister of Defence.

András Rádó, Head of Corporate Communications at Wizz Air: “We received a warning that there was a bomb on our flight from Luton to Sofia. We followed protocol and diverted the aircraft to Budapest to ensure that it could land quickly and safely and that the local authorities would be able to carry out the necessary checks. No bomb was found on board. The passengers were also searched and waited at the terminal while the aircraft was being inspected. The airline provided them with food, water and baby food. No bomb was found on board.”

Todor Ivandzhikov – Association of the Bulgarian Aviation Industry: “Every airline has its own procedure. The crew is contacted and a decision is made as to which airport the aircraft will be escorted to. It has to be escorted because it is not known whether the alert is false or not, or whether there might be a terrorist on board who could take control of the aircraft and direct it towards a particular target.”

• Hungarian Fighter Jet Escorts London–Sofia Flight to Budapest Following Bomb Threat

Todor Ivandzhikov – Association of the Bulgarian Aviation Industry: “In the event of a bomb threat, code 7700 is activated. The correct course of action is to scramble an aircraft immediately so that the two aircraft can be visually identified and communication can be established with the crew.”

Todor Ivandzhikov – Association of the Bulgarian Aviation Industry: “Hungary’s Minister of Defence immediately decided to activate the ‘Alpha’ procedure. As I understand it, a Gripen fighter jet was scrambled and escorted the aircraft to land in Hungary. I would not say this is anything unusual. These are standard procedures followed by the crew and the authorities, but we should try to put a stop to this in some way.”

Todor Ivandzhikov – Association of the Bulgarian Aviation Industry: “The entire hybrid war, and all similar cases involving threats, are increasingly spilling over into aviation as well. This comes at an enormous cost.”

Passengers recount their experience:

“It was a normal flight until the captain announced that we were stopping and landing in Budapest because of a technical stop. We made an emergency landing, the doors were opened and we saw around 20–30 police cars. They circled the aircraft, while we were packed into buses. We were taken to a room for checks, where there were several packs of bottled water. After a few hours, we were each given a sandwich. There was no panic on the aircraft. It was an unpleasant experience.”