A Flydubai jet carrying around 180 Israeli passengers was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after transmitting emergency signals, including a code associated with a possible hijacking, shortly after departing Dubai for Tel Aviv, according to reports.
Flight-tracking data showed that the Boeing 737 MAX 8, operating as Flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai International Airport to Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, initially squawked code 7700, indicating a general emergency. The aircraft later switched to code 7500, an internationally recognised signal for unlawful interference, including a possible hijacking.
According to reports, the incident was caused by a violent altercation between the flight’s pilots rather than a hijacking.
One pilot allegedly stabbed the other with a folding knife. Passengers and crew members reportedly intervened to subdue the attacker before the aircraft made an emergency landing.
The alerts prompted Israel to scramble military aircraft amid fears that the flight had been hijacked. The plane subsequently diverted and landed safely in Tabuk, a city in northwestern Saudi Arabia that hosts both civilian and military aviation facilities.
Who are the pilots?
Nothing much is known about the pilots till now. But according to The Times of Israel, which cited Israeli news outlet Walla, the pilot under investigation is Omani.
Channel 12 reported that a second team of pilots, dressed in civilian clothes, was travelling as passengers on the aircraft. According to the report, they helped prevent one of the pilots from taking control of the aircraft.
Israeli media have also reported that authorities are investigating whether one of the pilots attempted to crash the plane. Channel 12 said authorities were examining the possibility that one pilot attempted to commit suicide by trying to crash the aircraft, with the other pilot apparently intervening.
These reports have not been independently confirmed. Neither Flydubai nor the authorities involved in the incident have provided details about what happened inside the cockpit.
