FlyDubai flight lands in Saudi Arabia after cockpit incident

A FlyDubai flight from Dubai to Israel made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after an incident in the cockpit prompted security concerns and the scrambling of Israeli warplanes. The aircraft landed in Tabuk, a civilian and military base in Saudi Arabia, after transmitting an emergency alert shortly after take-off, according to publicly available flight-tracking information. Israeli media, citing security officials, reported that the incident arose from a dispute between the two pilots.

A regional official briefed on the matter said a fight had broken out in the cockpit and apparently involved the pilots, although the cause of the confrontation was not immediately clear. A second official said Israel had scrambled warplanes because of fears that the aircraft, which was carrying dozens of Israeli citizens, might have been hijacked. Both officials spoke anonymously because the incident was still under investigation.

Israeli media reported that everyone aboard the aircraft was safe. The supplied material did not identify any injuries or provide details about the number of passengers and crew. The incident occurred as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had warned in recent days of unspecified, escalated security threats.

Israel has not experienced a hijacking in decades, but maintains stringent airport security measures. Commercial flights between Israel and the United Arab Emirates began after the two countries normalised relations in 2020. The supplied reports did not say how long the aircraft remained in Tabuk, whether the flight continued to Israel or what action was taken against the pilots.