Flydubai Flight FZ1073, traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, performed an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday morning after issuing a distress signal.
The flight carried 100 Israeli citizens among its 174 passengers, prompting Israeli security forces to suspect a possible hijacking, as reported by Kan. Following the landing, authorities determined that the distress signal resulted from a violent altercation between the two pilots in the cockpit. Flydubai confirmed in a statement that a pilot conflict occurred during the flight.
Flightradar24 reported that the Boeing 737 Max 8 squawked emergency code 7700, signifying a general emergency, while the aircraft was already within Israeli airspace. Data indicated the plane descended from 34,000 feet to approximately 16,000 feet, well below its typical cruising altitude for this route.
The distress call triggered an immediate response from Israeli security forces. Kan noted that two Israeli Air Force jets were scrambled due to the aircraft’s atypical behavior. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz met at the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv to assess the situation and opted not to permit the flight to land at Ben Gurion Airport, according to Kan. The aircraft had been scheduled to arrive at Ben Gurion Airport at 9:10 a.m. local time.
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