A LOT Polish Airlines commercial flight headed to Tel Aviv from Warsaw was forced to divert to Burgas, Bulgaria, on Tuesday after an erroneous hijacking alarm triggered a mid-air emergency. Contradictory narratives emerged from multiple sides as officials raced to address the development. While the company operating the aircraft reportedly blamed the incident on pilot error, a Bulgarian ministry said otherwise.

LOT Polish Airlines flight 155 at the centre of the air scare was an Airbus A320 operated by the Bulgarian company Electra Airways. It took off from Warsaw, Poland, at 11:35 am local time, according to flight path data from FlightAware. After circling over the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Cyprus, the flight turned around to land at Burgas at 5:13 pm.

According to Bulgaria’s defence ministry, the plane in question broadcast transponder code 7500, an emergency message signaling unlawful interference or a hijacking.

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Military jets are most commonly “scrambled” or deployed immediately to escort airliners under severe threats, including bomb alarms and loss of contact with air traffic control.

LOT Polish Airlines addressed the ‘hijack’ alarm error

An airport official told AFP that Electra Airways held the flight’s pilot liable. Meanwhile, a LOT Polish Airlines spokesman told the outlet that Electra “reported an emergency situation” on its behalf.

“This report was cancelled in the course of subsequent communications with air traffic control,” the spokesperson added in a statement shared with AFP and Business Insider.

The flight was ultimately diverted to Burgas in Bulgaria, where Electra Airways is based, “due to limitation related to the authorised working time for the crew,” according to the statement shared with AFP.

The airline even apologised for the “exceptional circumstances” in a note shared with the affected passengers.

As seen by Business Insider, the message stated, “The diversion of your flight to Burgas was caused by the unintentional activation of an onboard security alert. “In accordance with the applicable safety procedures, the aircraft was redirected to [an] alternate airport, so that the situation could be fully clarified with the relevant authorities.”

“Situations of this nature are extremely rare and are not part of normal flight operations. Nevertheless, the safety and security of our passengers and crew must always remain our highest priority.”

After being removed from the aircraft, passengers were screened by Bulgarian police and redirected to a holding area. LOT Polish Airlines also told Business Insider that the flyers were advised to follow instructions laid out by the local service after the emergency landing.

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Authorities speak out

Bulgaria’s transport ministry confirmed the development, noting that the incident prompted Israeli and Bulgarian jets to scramble to intercept the plane.

On the flip side, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) also said that it rapidly mobilised two fighter jets after it failed to make contact with the LOT Polish Airlines plane, as reported by The Times of Israel. The contact was later restored, and the IDF said, “There is no fear of a security incident.”

As opposed to the Bulgarian company operating the flight blaming pilot error, Bulgaria’s transport ministry said, “The reason for the diversion is a technical failure of the aircraft’s transponder, which transmitted a false signal of unlawful interference/hijacking.”

The ministry further told AFP that once the lack of any real threat on board was confirmed, the plane left the country’s airspace via Turkey. The Bulgarian government affirmed that the flight was diverted to Burgas at the operators’ request, while Bulgarian jets “intercepted and escorted” the plane.