When Bulgaria Shot Down an El Al Passenger Plane
On July 27, 1955, an El Al passenger flight departed Vienna on what should have been an uneventful journey to Tel Aviv. Known as Flight 402, the aircraft was a Lockheed L-149 Constellation, a graceful four-engine propeller airliner widely used for long-haul routes in the 1950s. On board were 58 people—51 passengers and 7 crew members—representing multiple nationalities, including citizens of Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Sweden. Many were simply returning home or traveling for business. None would survive the flight’s final hours.
As the aircraft cruised high above Eastern Europe, stormy weather and interference with navigation beacons caused it to drift gradually off course. Instead of crossing over Yugoslavia as planned, Flight 402 unknowingly entered Bulgarian airspace—a violation taken extremely seriously in the tense atmosphere of the Cold War. Bulgarian military radar quickly picked up the unidentified plane, and two MiG-15 fighters were dispatched to investigate.
Multiple attempts were made to signal the airliner, but the warnings were apparently not understood by the crew. With no radio contact and no response to visual gestures, Bulgarian authorities concluded the aircraft was a potential intruder. They ordered the MiGs to engage. The fighters opened fire, and explosions ripped through the Constellation’s fuselage. In a matter of moments, the plane broke apart and crashed near the village of Petrich in southern Bulgaria. All 58 people on board were killed instantly.
The international response was immediate. Bulgaria admitted that its military had shot down the civilian airliner and expressed regret but refused to permit Israeli investigators to examine the wreckage. Israel, supported by several Western governments, condemned the attack as unjustifiable. Years of diplomatic negotiations and legal proceedings followed. Initially, Israel sought more than $2 million in compensation. In 1963, Bulgaria agreed to pay approximately $195,000 to the families of the victims—about $8,236 per person under the Warsaw Convention, a sum many considered far too small given the scale of the tragedy.
Today, the story of Flight 402 has largely faded from the public eye. Yet for aviation historians and the families who lost loved ones, it remains an enduring reminder of the perils of miscommunication and geopolitical suspicion. A modest memorial near Petrich stands as the only official marker of a day when a simple summer flight turned into an international tragedy.
The memorial marking the crash site of El Al Flight 402 is located in the Rupite area of southern Bulgaria, near the town of Petrich. It stands close to the believed point where the Lockheed Constellation came down after being shot by Bulgarian fighter jets in 1955. The site lies not far from the borders with Greece and North Macedonia, in a quiet rural landscape surrounded by fields and low hills. In 2016, a modest monument was installed there by local Bulgarian students with support from the Anne Frank Club, and it was later officially recognized by Israeli and Bulgarian officials. The memorial consists of a stone plaque engraved with the names of the 58 victims, serving as a place of remembrance and reflection. Today, it remains the only formal marker commemorating the tragedy at the place where the flight ended so suddenly. Location on Google maps.
