A LOT Polish Airlines flight was diverted to Bulgaria after a hijack alert was unintentionally triggered.
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A LOT Polish Airlines commercial flight from Warsaw to Tel Aviv was diverted to Burgas, Bulgaria, on Tuesday after a hijacking alert was unintentionally triggered in flight.LOT Polish Airlines flight 155, operated by Electra Airways, took off from Warsaw at 11:35 a.m. local time, then circled over the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Cyprus before turning around and landing at Burgas at 5:13 p.m., FlightAware flight path data showed.In a statement to The Times of Israel, the Israel Defense Forces said it scrambled two fighter jets after it was unable to make contact with the Airbus A320 aircraft, but that contact was restored amid the unusual mid-flight security scare."There is no fear of a security incident," the IDF said.A representative for LOT Polish Airlines told Business Insider that the "mistaken" emergency transponder code was "subsequently canceled during further communication with air traffic control."Bulgaria's transportation ministry confirmed the false hijacking code to The Times of Israel and said Bulgarian jets were also sent to escort the plane. It said a "technical failure of the aircraft's transponder" signaled an "unlawful interference/hijacking."Passengers were removed from the plane, screened by Bulgarian police, and brought to a holding area, where LOT Polish Airlines apologized for the "exceptional circumstances."
