11:45 CEST / 09:45 UTC: FlyDubai flight FZ1073, carrying between 174 and 180 passengers, including roughly 100 Israeli citizens, from Dubai to Tel Aviv, landed safely at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after a violent fight broke out between the captain and first officer in the cockpit. Both pilots were injured and hospitalised.
Flight-tracking data shows the aircraft transmitted a general emergency code followed by a hijack code as it descended rapidly and veered off its planned route toward Ben Gurion Airport. The hijack signal briefly raised fears aboard and on the ground that the plane had been seized, and Israel scrambled fighter jets in response before the aircraft’s true situation became clear.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held consultations as the crisis unfolded above the region’s airspace, with passengers unaware for a stretch of the flight whether they were caught in a hijacking. His office later said the situation was under control and that measures were being taken to bring the passengers home safely.
FlyDubai confirmed the diversion and landing. The cause of the cockpit fight has not been established, and an investigation is under way.