A Flydubai flight traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv landed safely in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after an incident between the two pilots caused an emergency situation during the flight.
The aircraft, carrying 174 passengers including 27 children and more than 100 Israeli citizens, was diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after the plane lost altitude and turned back while flying over Saudi airspace.
The flight, numbered FZ1073, left Dubai at 7:05am and was expected to land at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport around 9:30am.
Around 90 minutes after takeoff, while the plane was flying over Jordan, it sent an emergency signal known as code 7700. Later, it sent code 7500, which is used to indicate possible unlawful interference or hijacking. The aircraft later returned to the general emergency code.
Initial reports raised fears that the plane may have been hijacked. However, Israeli security officials later said the emergency was likely caused by a physical fight between the two pilots inside the cockpit.
Flight data showed that the aircraft suddenly dropped from about 34,000 feet to 16,600 feet in nearly two minutes. After the incident, the plane turned back toward Saudi Arabia and safely landed at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Airport in Tabuk.
Flydubai confirmed that flight FZ1073 had experienced an incident during the journey but landed safely. The airline said all passengers were safe.
The emergency situation led Israeli authorities to prepare for a possible security threat. Fighter jets were sent to monitor the situation, and officials held urgent security meetings. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz were also briefed about the incident.
After the plane landed, Israeli officials said there was no evidence of a hijacking and that the situation appeared to be an internal issue involving the flight crew.
Flydubai said it would send another aircraft from Dubai to Saudi Arabia to take the passengers to Israel. Authorities are investigating the incident and will question the crew as part of the inquiry.
The exact details of what happened inside the cockpit are still being investigated, but officials have ruled out a hijacking and said the passengers remained safe throughout the incident.
