Israel-bound flight diverted to Saudi Arabia after brawl between pilots, Israeli official says
The Flydubai flight diverted to Tabuk after the pilots allegedly got into a physical altercation, triggering emergency signals and a major security response in Israel. A screengrab taken from Flightradar24 shows a flydubai flight to Israel which was diverted to Saudi Arabia September 30, 2026. Reuters
A flight bound for Israel from theUnited Arab Emirates diverted to Saudi Arabia after transmitting emergencysignals following a fight between the pilots, an Israeli official said onWednesday.
Flydubai Flight FZ1073 from Dubai toTel Aviv diverted over Jordanian airspace towards Saudi Arabia, transmitting ageneral emergency signal and then another emergency signal that indicated possibleunlawful interference several minutes later, according to flight-trackingwebsite Flightradar24.
The Boeing 737 plane, which Israelimedia said had around 150 Israeli passengers on board, then again transmittedthe initial general emergency signal before later landing at Tabuk airport innorthwestern Saudi Arabia, the website said.
The aircraft’s data appeared to showthat it had suddenly and rapidly descended by nearly 14,000 feet in less than30 seconds before the first emergency signal, Flightradar24 said.
The emergency signals triggered a majorsecurity response in Israel, which has no official diplomatic relations withSaudi Arabia, where the plane landed. The incident highlighted the potentialrisks on a route that has become popular among Israeli nationals since the UAEand Israel normalized ties 6 years ago.
Doron Spielman, a spokesperson for theIsraeli prime minister’s office, told Reuters the incident was not believed tohave been a hijacking, describing it as a “different incident”.
An airline spokesperson said theflydubai flight experienced an “incident” en route to Tel Aviv and diverted to Tabuk,where it landed safely. All passengers were safe and accounted for, thespokesperson said, without providing any further details.
An Israeli official, speaking on thecondition of anonymity, told Reuters the pilots had transmitted the emergencysignals after getting into a physical altercation with each other.
It was not immediately clear if eitherpilot had intentionally transmitted the signals.
Yasmin Abu Kasis said her daughterMiriam, who was among the passengers on the flight, had told her that she hadheard screaming and that a man holding a knife had forced one of the pilotsonto the floor, and that there was blood everywhere.
Israeli media published a photopurportedly taken from inside the plane, which appeared to show a passenger’sblood-soaked shirt. Reuters could not immediately verify the image.
In a statement, the Israeli primeminister’s office said the situation was “under control” and that all measureswere being taken to bring the Israeli passengers back to Israel.
Flydubai operates daily return flightsbetween Dubai and Tel Aviv, a route that is popular among Israeli nationals.The flight path normally uses airspace over Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
It is not the first time a flightbetween Israel and the UAE has landed in Saudi Arabia. A flydubai flight fromDubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Riyadh in September 2025 due toa medical incident, Israeli media reported at the time.
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