A flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv diverted to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after sending emergency signals, following what an Israeli official said was a physical fight between the pilots.
Flight FZ1073 turned away over Jordanian airspace and landed safely at Tabuk airport in north-western Saudi Arabia, The Express Tribune reported, citing Reuters. The airline said all passengers were safe and accounted for.
A sudden drop and two distress codes
About 90 minutes after take-off, as the Boeing 737 entered Jordanian airspace, it transmitted code 7700, the international signal for a general emergency, according to the Israeli newspaper Ynet. Several minutes later it sent code 7500, which indicates unlawful interference with an aircraft, such as a hijacking, according to the flight-tracking website Flightradar24.
Flightradar24 said the aircraft’s data appeared to show it had descended by nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds before the first emergency signal.
Israeli media said around 150 Israeli passengers were on board. Anadolu Agency put the total number of passengers at 174.
“Not a hijacking”
Doron Spielman, a spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister’s office, said the incident was not believed to have been a hijacking, describing it as a “different incident”. An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the pilots had sent the emergency signals after getting into a physical fight with each other. It was not clear whether either pilot had sent the signals deliberately.
Israel’s Channel 12 said the incident did not appear to be security-related and that the crew was made up of a Russian pilot and a Ukrainian co-pilot.
However, senior Israeli aviation officials told Ynet that a security incident had not yet been ruled out. An initial assessment they cited claimed that one pilot “attempted to cause a crash”, and that the other pilot stopped him with the help of passengers. None of these accounts has been independently confirmed.
A passenger’s account
Yasmin Abu Kasis said her daughter Miriam, a passenger on the flight, told her she had heard screaming, that a man holding a knife had forced one of the pilots to the floor, and that there was blood everywhere. Israeli media published a photo said to show a blood-soaked shirt inside the plane, which Reuters could not verify.
A flydubai spokesperson said only that the flight had experienced an “incident” on its way to Tel Aviv and diverted to Tabuk, without giving details.
Passengers stranded in Saudi Arabia
The emergency signals triggered a major security response in Israel, which has no diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia. The Israeli prime minister’s office said the situation was “under control”. Flydubai told Israeli authorities it would send a replacement aircraft from Dubai to bring the passengers home, Ynet reported. The Israel Airports Authority denied reports that Israeli airspace had been closed.
Flydubai runs daily flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv, a route that became popular with Israelis after the UAE normalised ties with Israel six years ago. The flight path normally crosses Saudi and Jordanian airspace. In September 2025, another flydubai flight on the same route made an emergency landing in Riyadh because of a medical emergency.
Why it matters
A fight in the cockpit of a passenger jet is extremely rare, and deeply alarming for air safety. The incident also comes as the UAE deepens its ties with Israel, with the UAE president meeting Netanyahu this week, even as Israel’s war on Gaza and settler violence in the West Bank continue. Read our reports on the UAE’s talks with Netanyahu and on Israel’s strikes in Gaza.
This article draws on reporting by Reuters, via The Express Tribune, and Anadolu Agency.
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