Somewhere over Bosnia and Herzegovina on the morning of Monday 2 November, the crew of Wizz Air flight W6 4302 learned that someone claimed there was a bomb on board. They were carrying passengers from London Luton to Sofia. Within minutes they had turned for Budapest, and within minutes of that a Hungarian fighter was climbing out of Kecskemét to meet them.

The jet, an Airbus A321neo, landed safely at Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport shortly after midday local time. Police and counter-terrorism teams searched the aircraft and everyone on it. They found nothing. The next morning, a fresh wave of threats hit four more flights across Europe.

A Gripen within minutes

Hungary’s Defence Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi announced the scramble on Facebook. He wrote that the Wizz Air crew, after receiving the threat, abandoned their route and asked to land in Budapest. NATO’s air defence readiness service then issued an ALPHA alert, the order that sends a quick reaction alert fighter into the air.

A JAS 39 Gripen of the Hungarian Air Force was airborne within minutes and escorted the airliner down to Budapest, the minister said. The fighter then returned to Kecskemét Air Base, home of Hungary’s Gripen fleet, and the police took over on the ground.

An escort like this is not about shooting anything down. The fighter pilot can look the airliner over, confirm it is behaving as its crew says, and stay with it until it is safely on the ground. Our explainer Bomb Threat on a Plane: What Pilots and Crews Actually Do covers what happens inside the cockpit and cabin while all this unfolds.

Searched on a remote stand

According to Simple Flying, flight 4302 left Luton at 08:33 GMT and had been due in Sofia at 13:25 local time. Air Data News reported that it touched down in Budapest at 12:08 and named the aircraft as the A321neo HA-LGR. Neither the airline nor the authorities said publicly how the threat had been received.

The jet taxied to a designated stand away from the terminal, where firefighters, police and counter-terrorism officers were waiting. One of the airport’s two runways was closed for the operation, with other arrivals and departures moved to the remaining runway.

Times Now World’s report on the Wizz Air diversion to Budapest and the Gripen escort.

Wizz Air told the Hungarian news agency MTI that afternoon that the checks of the aircraft and passengers had found no risk. The passengers went through a second security screening and waited in the terminal while the airline arranged a fresh crew. Simple Flying reported that the A321neo finally left for Sofia at 16:48 local time.

Tuesday: four more flights

On Tuesday 3 November, the threats spread. LOT Polish Airlines flight LO286 from London Heathrow to Warsaw Chopin was diverted to Warsaw-Modlin after a bomb threat alert at 09:54. The airport said the Boeing 737 MAX landed seven minutes later. Modlin closed temporarily while specialists checked the jet, and later reopened. LOT said the inspection was completed with no suspicious items found.

An SAS flight from Copenhagen to Warsaw, SK751, also received a threat. It landed normally at Chopin, where it was checked. In Spain, a Ryanair aircraft from Manchester landed in Murcia with 114 passengers and seven crew on board after another threat. The Guardia Civil later ruled out the presence of explosives, according to Francisco Lucas, the Spanish government’s delegate in the region.

According to the BBC, citing Bulgarian media, a fourth flight, arriving from Israel, landed in Sofia after a bomb threat was received by email, and counter-terrorism teams checked it. The BBC reported that it is unclear whether the incidents are connected. None of the reports on the Tuesday flights mentioned fighter escorts.

Two escorts in two weeks

The Wizz Air bomb threat and Monday’s Gripen escort came only two weeks after another hoax led to a military interception. On 18 October, a Bulgarian Air Force MiG-29 escorted Austrian Airlines flight OS82 into Sofia after a bomb threat on its way from Tel Aviv to Vienna. We covered it in Austrian Airlines OS82: Bomb Threat, MiG-29 Escort, Landing in Sofia. Nothing was found then, either.

According to Simple Flying, Hungarian police are investigating the source of the threat against W6 4302. For the passengers, it meant an unplanned afternoon in Budapest. For the Hungarian Air Force, it was a real-world test of a readiness service that only shows its value when the call comes. As the minister put it, readiness is not a routine but a responsibility.

Sources: Hungarian Ministry of Defence (minister’s Facebook post via Telex and 444), Wizz Air via MTI, Simple Flying, Air Data News, Travel Tomorrow, BBC, Reuters via ABC News, LOT Polish Airlines, SAS