Flydubai plane lands in Saudi Arabia after pilot brawl

A Flydubai flight from Dubai to Ben Gurion with 174 passengers, including 27 children, that squawked a distress signal this morning indicating a hijacking, descended from a height of approximately 34,000 feet to 14,000 feet and landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Flydubai confirmed reports that the distress signal was activated due to a brawl between the pilots themselves.

According to reports, the aircraft took off from Dubai at 7:05 a.m. and was scheduled to land at Ben Gurion around 9:30 a.m., but after an hour and a half of flight, as it entered Jordanian airspace, it squawked code 7700, the international emergency and distress code, and then code 7500, indicating aircraft hijacking. Simultaneously, the aircraft turned around and returned to Saudi airspace, and Flightradar24 data showed it descended rapidly from a height of approximately 34,000 feet to 14,000 feet. It subsequently landed safely at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia, and in an official statement, Flydubai said flight FZ 1073 "experienced an incident during the flight" and that "all passengers are safe and under observation."

Flydubai confirmed reports that the distress signal was activated due to a brawl between the pilots themselves, and according to reports, one of the pilots was stabbed during the altercation. An Israeli official said that "there is suspicion that one of the pilots wanted to crash the aircraft and the second pilot succeeded in neutralizing him, with the help of Israeli passengers." According to Israeli officials, the stabbed pilot is apparently the crew member suspected of attempting to end his own life, and they said "everything has been checked, and this direction is very strong right now," but Israel has not ruled out a security incident and the possibility that this was an attempted attack is also being investigated.

A passenger named Miriam told i24NEWS: "We heard screams on the plane. Then they opened the cockpit, we saw quantities of blood, and someone stabbed the pilot with a utensil." According to her, "the Israelis neutralized the stabber along with the crew that was there, we made an emergency landing," and a doctor and nurse who were on the plane provided the pilot with first aid.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz convened an urgent security consultation, Israeli warplanes were scrambled and the chief of staff held a situation assessment with the commander of the air force, head of the Shin Bet, head of military intelligence and other commanders. According to reports, Flydubai opened an investigation into the incident, and the company's CEO updated that a plane would be sent from Dubai to Saudi Arabia, collect the passengers and continue to Israel. Contrary to rumors circulated on social media, Israel's airspace was not closed during the incident.