A Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv carrying 174 passengers, including 27 children, landed in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after a physical altercation between the pilots triggered an emergency signal that initially raised fears of a hijacking and prompted Israel to scramble fighter jets.
Flydubai later confirmed that the emergency signal was triggered by a fight between the pilots. The aircraft landed safely at an airport in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after briefly disappearing from publicly available flight-tracking services. It reappeared on the services after landing.
Gallery
Map showing the flight path of the plane that turned back while traveling from Dubai to Israel amid a suspected hijacking
Flydubai’s CEO said the airline would send another aircraft from Dubai to Saudi Arabia to pick up the 174 passengers and continue their journey to Israel.
The aircraft briefly transmitted a code indicating possible unlawful interference while flying toward Israel. Israeli authorities initially treated the incident as a potential hijacking but later determined that the alert was apparently triggered by violence between the pilots in the cockpit.
The plane lost significant altitude as it turned back toward Saudi Arabia before landing safely.
The incident prompted a major security response in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz convened an urgent security consultation, while the Israel Police Operations Division ordered the establishment of a joint command center with other security agencies.
IDF said Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir held a situation assessment with the Air Force commander, the heads of the military’s Operations and Intelligence directorates and other senior officers. The Shin Bet domestic security agency, Mossad intelligence service, police and National Security Council also held assessments as officials sought to establish what had happened aboard the aircraft.
“We are preparing for every scenario,” Police Commissioner Danny Levy said while the circumstances aboard the aircraft remained unclear.
Contrary to rumors circulating online during the incident, Israeli airspace was not closed.
Flydubai airliner
(Photo: Photofex_AUT / Shutterstock.com)
The Flydubai aircraft had departed Dubai in the United Arab Emirates at 7:05 a.m. and was scheduled to land at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv at about 9:30 a.m.
About 90 minutes into the flight, as the aircraft entered Jordanian airspace, it transmitted squawk code 7700, the international transponder code signaling a general emergency. It subsequently transmitted code 7500, which indicates unlawful interference with an aircraft and is commonly associated with a hijacking.
At about the same time, the aircraft turned around, headed back into Saudi airspace and began flying at a lower altitude over the kingdom. After initially heading south, it turned west while remaining over Saudi Arabia.
Israeli Air Force fighter jets were scrambled as authorities attempted to determine what was happening aboard the aircraft.
During the initial response, an Israeli security official said authorities had no definitive evidence of a hijacking but were concerned because they had been unable to establish contact with the pilot.
“There is no definitive information about a hijacking. The pilot activated a distress signal,” the official said at the time. “We are unable to establish contact with the pilot, and that is concerning.”
Authorities subsequently determined that the emergency was apparently the result of an altercation between the pilots rather than an attempted hijacking. The aircraft ultimately landed in Saudi Arabia with the passengers aboard.