A FlyDubai passenger plane travelling from Dubai to Israel made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after an incident involving the aircraft’s pilots briefly raised fears of a possible hijacking.
The Boeing 737 MAX 8, operating as flight FZ 1073 to Ben Gurion Airport, landed safely in Tabuk, a city that hosts both civilian and military facilities.
Israeli media, citing security officials, reported that the incident was linked to a confrontation between the two pilots in the cockpit. A regional official also confirmed that a fight had broken out but said the circumstances surrounding it remained unclear.
Israeli authorities scrambled fighter jets after initially fearing that the aircraft, which was carrying dozens of Israeli passengers, could have been hijacked.
Officials said all passengers and crew members were safe. The crew was questioned following the landing, although it was not immediately clear whether anyone had been detained.
Flight-tracking service FlightRadar24 showed that the aircraft descended from about 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet within a minute, roughly two and a half hours after departing Dubai. It subsequently made a turn near the Jordanian border before landing in Tabuk about an hour later.
FlyDubai confirmed that flight FZ 1073 had experienced an incident and landed safely in Tabuk. The airline said it was working with the authorities and would provide further information once the details had been confirmed.
Passengers who spoke to Israel’s Channel 12 said they heard shouting from the front of the aircraft and noticed the plane descend sharply. They said passengers remained on board under heavy Saudi security.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the situation was under control and that Israeli authorities were working to arrange the passengers’ return.
The incident comes amid heightened security concerns in Israel, with Netanyahu warning in recent days of increased but unspecified threats.
Cockpit altercations between pilots are rare but have occurred previously. In 2022, two Air France pilots were suspended after becoming involved in a physical confrontation during a flight from Geneva to Paris. That aircraft, however, did not require an emergency diversion.
FlyDubai, the low-cost sister airline of Emirates, operates flights between the United Arab Emirates and Israel. Commercial air links between the two countries expanded after they established diplomatic relations in 2020.
