On a flight to Tel Aviv, a fight between Flydubai pilots triggered a hijacking alert and forced the plane to land in Saudi Arabia.
On a flight to Tel Aviv, a fight between Flydubai pilots triggered a hijacking alert and forced the plane to land in Saudi Arabia.
2026-09-30
Shafaq News – Follow-up
A Flydubai plane diverted and made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after a fight broke out between its pilots in the air and an emergency code was sent, triggering a state of alert in anticipation of a possible hijacking.
The plane, which was flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv with more than 100 Israeli passengers on board, initially sent the emergency code 7700, which indicates a general emergency, before switching to the code 7500, which indicates unlawful interference, and then later returning to the first code.
As the incident unfolded, the Israeli Air Force called in fighter jets in preparation for any possible emergency and raised its alert level, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a security meeting with defense officials, according to Israeli media reports.
Israeli airspace was also temporarily closed, before being reopened later after the plane landed in Saudi Arabia, where it reportedly landed at Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Airport in Tabuk, in the north of the kingdom.
It later emerged, according to Israeli officials and defense sources, that the incident was not a kidnapping, and that the emergency appeared to have resulted from a fight that broke out between the pilots during the flight.
Israeli authorities intended to question the crew members and search the plane after it landed, as part of the investigation into the circumstances of the accident.
For its part, Flydubai plans to send another plane to Saudi Arabia to bring the passengers back to Tel Aviv.
Netanyahu’s spokesman said the incident involving the Flydubai plane was not a hijacking.
Netanyahu’s office confirmed in a statement that “the incident involving the plane that took off from Dubai to Tel Aviv, which earlier on Wednesday sent a distress signal, and then made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, has been brought under control.”
He added: “The situation is under control, and all measures are currently being taken to return the Israeli passengers to Israel.”
Flydubai announced that flight 1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv experienced an incident during its flight, confirming that the plane landed safely in the Saudi city of Tabuk, and that all passengers were safe.
shafaq.com
