LOT plane lands safely in Bulgaria after hijacking alert
A LOT Polish Airlines passenger plane flying from Warsaw to Tel Aviv landed safely at Bulgaria's Burgas Airport on Tuesday after transmitting the international 7500 hijacking code, prompting Türkiye to activate aviation security procedures and escort the aircraft with F-16 fighter jets.
Türkiye's Transport and Infrastructure Ministry said the aircraft transmitted the 7500 hijacking code while in Bulgarian airspace before entering Turkish airspace.
Although the flight crew informed authorities that there was no adverse situation on board, Turkish officials implemented all required security measures in line with international aviation procedures.
Two Turkish Air Force F-16 fighter jets escorted the aircraft from the moment it entered Turkish airspace until it exited. Following coordination with Bulgarian authorities, the aircraft was permitted to re-enter Turkish airspace after receiving clearance to land at Burgas Airport, with the fighter jets continuing the escort until it left Turkish airspace.
The aircraft landed safely at Burgas Airport at 5:12 p.m. local time, the ministry said.
According to the ministry, LOT Polish Airlines said in its initial explanation that the incident was caused by the pilot transmitting the wrong transponder code and that there had been no actual hijacking.
Turkish authorities said they were continuing to monitor the incident in coordination with the relevant authorities.
Source:AA
