Newly released footage from the Bulgaria Air passenger plane that was diverted to Burgas, Bulgaria, on Tuesday shows Bulgarian security personnel approaching the aircraft with drawn guns and boarding to question the pilot and passengers. The incident began when the pilot accidentally triggered a distress button, leading to the scrambling of fighter jets. Passengers are now awaiting a replacement flight to Tel Aviv.
The footage, published by Israeli media outlet Yedioth Ahronoth, shows Bulgarian security personnel with drawn pistols approaching the aircraft on the tarmac at Burgas Airport on Tuesday afternoon. The crew and passengers were questioned on board, according to journalist Dan Fisher (N12).
The incident began about four and a half hours earlier, after the plane departed from Warsaw, Poland, en route to Tel Aviv. The pilot accidentally triggered a distress button, causing air traffic control to lose contact and prompting the scrambling of fighter jets. The alert was canceled after contact was reestablished. The aircraft was initially diverted to Cyprus before landing in Burgas, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.
As The Zioneer reported earlier, Bulgarian security boarded the plane at 18:22 Jerusalem time. The passengers remain at the airport awaiting a replacement aircraft to complete the journey to Ben Gurion Airport. The precise airline name and the number of passengers have not been independently confirmed.
3 developments
- StrongIsraeli fighter jets scrambled after airliner mistakenly reports hijacking
- DevelopingNATO jets escort Arkia airliner after contact lost over Hungary
- StrongNew video shows Boeing 777 test wing nearly hitting ground in Texas; crew on acceptance flight for Qatar Airways
- DevelopingNew footage emerges of Russian Tu-22M3 bomber crash in Irkutsk
Source and signal
- Internal intake