JERUSALEM — A Flydubai flight travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv was diverted to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after an altercation between the pilots triggered emergency alerts and prompted fears of a possible hijacking.
Flight FZ1073 landed safely at Tabuk Airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia, with all passengers and crew accounted for, the airline said. The aircraft, a Boeing 737 Max 8, had been carrying more than 170 people, according to Israeli officials.
The incident unfolded while the aircraft was travelling towards Israel. Flight-tracking data showed the plane transmitting emergency signals before diverting towards Saudi Arabia. At one point, the aircraft dropped sharply from about 34,000 feet to below 17,000 feet within roughly a minute, according to publicly available tracking information.
Israeli officials initially described the episode as a physical confrontation between the two pilots. The circumstances that led to the confrontation remained unclear.
Later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said one pilot had stabbed the other and apparently attempted to crash the aircraft. He said passengers and crew intervened and subdued the attacker, allowing the aircraft to be brought under control.
The account could not immediately be independently established in full. Flydubai said only that an incident had occurred during the flight and that the aircraft was secured by crew members before being diverted to Tabuk.
The emergency signals prompted an immediate security response in Israel. Israeli military officials assessed the situation and fighter aircraft were reportedly scrambled after authorities feared that the aircraft could have been taken over.
Passengers described hearing shouting and a disturbance near the front of the aircraft. Some said the plane descended sharply during the incident before changing course towards Saudi Arabia.
The aircraft eventually landed at Tabuk, a city in northwestern Saudi Arabia that hosts both civilian and military aviation facilities. Saudi authorities took control of the situation after the landing while Israeli officials worked to arrange the return of the passengers.
The diversion was particularly notable because Saudi Arabia and Israel do not have formal diplomatic relations. The incident nevertheless involved the use of Saudi territory as the nearest safe landing location after the aircraft’s emergency diversion.
Netanyahu’s office said the situation was under control and that measures were being taken to return the Israeli passengers safely to Israel.
The incident also highlighted the importance of the Dubai-Tel Aviv air corridor, which has operated regularly since the United Arab Emirates and Israel established diplomatic relations in 2020. Flydubai operates daily services between the two cities.
Flydubai later confirmed that Flight FZ1073 had experienced an incident while travelling from Dubai International Airport to Ben Gurion International Airport. The carrier said its teams were working with the relevant authorities and that further information would be released as confirmed details became available.
The cause of the confrontation, the precise sequence of events inside the cockpit and the motive behind the alleged attack remained under investigation.
The incident was not the first time a flight travelling between the UAE and Israel had been diverted to Saudi Arabia. A Flydubai service on the same route made an emergency landing in Riyadh in September 2025 following a medical incident.
A separate Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv also operated on Wednesday and reached Israel safely.
