A commercial aircraft operated by Flydubai departed Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday morning bound for Tel Aviv, but was unexpectedly diverted to Saudi Arabia following an incident in the cockpit. The Boeing aircraft, flight FZ1073, carried approximately 150 passengers, the majority of whom are Israeli nationals.
According to Israeli officials cited by local media outlets, an altercation between the two pilots escalated to a physical confrontation during the flight. Reports indicate one pilot stabbed the other before being subdued by crew members. Passengers aboard the aircraft also provided accounts of the stabbing incident to news organizations. The aircraft transmitted an emergency code roughly two hours after takeoff, which was subsequently changed to a hijacking alert before reverting to a general emergency signal, according to flight tracking data from Flightradar24.
The aircraft performed a rapid descent over Saudi Arabian airspace, dropping more than 17,000 feet in less than two minutes around 05:21 UTC. The plane briefly entered Jordanian airspace before returning to Saudi territory and landing at Tabuk Airport in northeastern Saudi Arabia at approximately 05:40 UTC. A Flydubai spokesperson stated the aircraft “experienced an incident while en route” and confirmed their teams were collaborating with relevant authorities, though specific details were not immediately disclosed.
The Israeli government responded swiftly to the diversion. The Israeli air force deployed fighter jets in response to the incident, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened urgent consultations regarding the situation. Netanyahu subsequently issued a statement indicating the circumstances were under control and that coordination efforts were ongoing to facilitate the return of Israeli passengers from Saudi Arabia to Israel.
Flydubai has indicated additional information regarding the incident would be released as further details become available.
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