A FlyDubai flight travelling from Dubai to Israel made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after an incident in the cockpit briefly prompted fears of a hijacking and led Israel to scramble fighter jets.
The aircraft, carrying dozens of Israeli citizens, landed safely at Tabuk, a site used as both a civilian airport and a military base. Everyone on board was reported to be safe.
Israeli media, citing security officials, said the emergency was apparently caused by a dispute between the two pilots. A regional official briefed on the incident said a fight had broken out in the cockpit, although it was not immediately clear what had led to it.
The FlyDubai aircraft sent an emergency alert shortly after taking off, according to publicly available flight-tracking information. A second official confirmed that Israeli warplanes had been deployed amid concerns that the plane might have been hijacked.
Both officials spoke anonymously while the incident remained under investigation. Benjamin Netanyahu’s office later said the situation was under control and that Israel was working to return the passengers home.
Emergency diversions linked to incidents involving crew are rare but have happened before. In 2022, two Air France pilots were suspended after fighting in the cockpit during a flight from Geneva to Paris, although that aircraft continued to its planned destination.
FlyDubai is the lower-cost sister airline of Emirates. The United Arab Emirates has become a popular holiday destination for Israeli tourists since the countries established normal ties in 2020, with commercial flights operating between the two countries since then.
Israel has not experienced a hijacking for decades and maintains some of the world’s strictest airport security measures.
