Flydubai flight to Tel Aviv diverts to Saudi Arabia after pilot altercation

At 05:21 GMT the Boeing 737 MAX 8, outbound from Dubai International toward Ben Gurion, held about 34,000 feet. At 05:22 GMT the same aircraft was under 17,000 feet.

Roughly ninety minutes to two hours after takeoff the plane’s transponder began squawking 7700. A pilot dials a four-digit code on the cockpit transponder so air traffic controllers can see at once that something is wrong; 7700 means general emergency. Minutes later the code switched to 7500, unlawful interference or hijacking, then flipped back to 7700. One set of reports placed the aircraft as it entered Jordanian airspace; another had it already inside Israeli airspace. No explanation accompanied the codes—only the signals and the dive.

In Tel Aviv the alert reached Israeli leadership. Two Israeli Air Force jets went airborne. Kan reported the scramble in response to the aircraft’s unusual behavior. Regional and security officials cited by AP, CBS and India Today confirmed it, saying Israel feared a hijacking of a plane carrying dozens of its citizens. At Defence Ministry headquarters, Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz convened and decided not to authorize the aircraft to land at Ben Gurion. The flight was due there at 9:10 a.m. local time.

Tracking data showed the Boeing reverse course and re-enter Saudi airspace. After initially heading south, it turned west while remaining inside the kingdom. Near Tabuk it flew at around 5,000 feet, Gulf News reported, then landed at Tabuk Airport, a civilian and military base. Al-Monitor and Ynet counted 174 passengers; other wires put the total around 150, most Israeli. The plane was on the ground in Saudi Arabia. The 7500 code had already been transmitted.

People seated near the front of the cabin phoned Israel’s Channel 12 and reported hearing shouts from the cockpit. They said they could hear the altercation between the pilots. Channel 12 reported that the episode did not appear to be security-related and that authorities were checking whether the distress signal had been activated accidentally because of an argument between the pilot and co-pilot. The broadcaster said the flight crew consisted of a Russian pilot and a Ukrainian co-pilot. Flydubai confirmed that a conflict between the pilots had broken out during the flight. Israeli media, citing officials, described a violent conflict inside the cockpit rather than a hijacking.

An Israeli passenger told journalists the crew asked for help. Passengers helped tackle one of the pilots and tie him down.

According to an initial assessment cited by Ynet, one of the pilots allegedly attempted to cause a crash, while the other pilot managed to thwart the attempt with the help of Israeli passengers. Senior officials in Israel’s aviation industry said suspicion of a security incident on the flight had not yet been ruled out.

Flydubai is the Dubai government-owned low-cost carrier and sister airline of Emirates. It flies an all-Boeing 737 fleet that includes the MAX 8. Commercial service between Dubai and Tel Aviv began after the UAE and Israel normalized ties in 2020; the route quickly drew Israeli tourists, and flydubai kept operating it when other carriers paused. Cockpit fights that force a diversion remain rare. In 2022 two Air France pilots were suspended after fighting on a Geneva–Paris flight; that aircraft was not diverted and landed as scheduled. Israel, whose citizens were targeted in hijackings and aircraft attacks in the 1960s and 1970s, has gone decades without a hijacking yet still enforces some of the world’s strictest security checks on flights bound for the country.

A heavy Saudi security presence surrounded the aircraft at Tabuk. Passengers who reached Channel 12 by phone said they were staying on board. Flydubai confirmed that the flight had experienced an incident while en route and had landed safely at Tabuk Airport, with all passengers safe and accounted for. “Our teams are working closely with the relevant authorities. Further updates will be issued as additional confirmed details become available,” a FlyDubai spokesperson said. The airline informed Israeli authorities that a replacement aircraft would be dispatched from Dubai to collect the Israeli passengers.

A statement from Netanyahu’s office followed. “The incident is under control, and all measures are currently being deployed in order to return the Israeli passengers safely to Israel.” The Israeli military said IDF Chief of Staff Lt Gen Eyal Zamir held an assessment of the incident with senior officers, among them Israeli Air Force chief Maj Gen Omer Tischler, Operations Directorate chief Maj Gen Itzik Cohen and Intelligence Directorate chief Maj Gen Shlomi Binder. Israel began organising the safe return of its nationals still on the ground in Saudi Arabia.

Flight FZ1073 sat at Tabuk under Saudi security, its cabin still occupied.

Read the full story on IJR