Boeing 737 plane then again transmitted the initial general emergency signal before later landing at Tabuk
A screengrab taken from Flightradar24 shows a flydubai flight to Israel which was diverted to Saudi Arabia September 30, 2026. PHOTO: REUTERS
Two pilots were wounded after reportedly fighting on board a plane bound for Israel, forcing it to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
The flight bound for Israel from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) diverted to Saudi Arabia after transmitting emergency signals following a fight between the pilots, an Israeli official said.
Flydubai Flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv diverted over Jordanian airspace towards Saudi Arabia, transmitting a general emergency signal and then another emergency signal that indicated possible unlawful interference several minutes later, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24.
The Boeing 737 plane, which Israeli media said had around 150 Israeli passengers on board, then again transmitted the initial general emergency signal before later landing at Tabuk airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia, the website said.
According to Anadolu, the flight was carrying 174 passengers.
The aircraft’s data appeared to show that it had suddenly and rapidly descended by nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds before the first emergency signal, Flightradar24 said.
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The emergency signals triggered a major security response in Israel, which has no official diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, where the plane landed. The incident highlighted the potential risks on a route that has become popular among Israeli nationals since the UAE and Israel normalised ties 6 years ago.
Around 90 minutes after takeoff, while entering Jordanian airspace, the aircraft transmitted code “7700,” the international code for a general emergency, the Israeli newspaper Ynet said.
It subsequently transmitted code “7500,” which is used to indicate unlawful interference with an aircraft, including a possible hijacking.
Passengers overcame co-pilot who tried to crash flight, Netanyahu says
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the co-pilot tried to crash the plane after stabbing the pilot, but passengers restrained him while another pilot safely landed the plane in Saudi Arabia.
Describing the event as “a highly severe security incident,” Netanyahu said Saudi authorities would interrogate the co-pilot of flydubai flight FZ1073 from the UAE to Israel.
The alleged assailant, who an Israeli official identified as an Omani national, was arrested after the plane landed, Netanyahu said.
“All passengers are out of harm’s way,” Netanyahu, who described the passengers as being almost all Israeli, said in a video statement released by his office.
The Israeli leader quoted a passenger as saying that passengers, along with a member of the crew, broke into the cockpit after the aircraft “entered a tailspin and began to dive” and found the co-pilot “trying to sabotage the plane’s systems.”
“They saved many lives. They prevented a heavy disaster,” he said.
Doron Spielman, a spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister’s office, told Reuters the incident was not believed to have been a hijacking, describing it as a “different incident”.
An airline spokesperson said the flydubai flight experienced an “incident” en route to Tel Aviv and diverted to Tabuk, where it landed safely. All passengers were safe and accounted for, the spokesperson said, without providing any further details.
An Israeli official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters the pilots had transmitted the emergency signals after getting into a physical altercation with each other.
It was not immediately clear if either pilot had intentionally transmitted the signals.
Yasmin Abu Kasis said her daughter Miriam, who was among the passengers on the flight, had told her that she had heard screaming and that a man holding a knife had forced one of the pilots onto the floor, and that there was blood everywhere.
Israeli Channel 12 later said the incident appeared not 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.
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Israeli media published a photo purportedly taken from inside the plane, which appeared to show a passenger’s blood-soaked shirt. Reuters could not immediately verify the image.
In a statement, the Israeli prime minister’s office said the situation was “under control” and that all measures were being taken to bring the Israeli passengers back to Israel.
Flydubai operates daily return flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv, a route that is popular among Israeli nationals. The flight path normally uses airspace over Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
Flydubai later informed Israeli authorities that a replacement aircraft would be dispatched from Dubai to Saudi Arabia to bring back the Israeli passengers who had been on the flight, Ynet reported.
The Israel Airports Authority, meanwhile, denied reports that the country’s airspace had been closed during the incident.
Senior officials in Israel’s aviation industry said suspicion of a security incident on the Flydubai flight had not yet been ruled out, Ynet reported.
An initial assessment cited by officials claimed that 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.
It is not the first time a flight between Israel and the UAE has landed in Saudi Arabia. A flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Riyadh in September 2025 due to a medical incident, Israeli media reported at the time.