Israel-bound flight diverted to Saudi Arabia after brawl between pilots

A commercial plane traveling from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to Israel was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, briefly raising concerns about a possible hijacking and prompting Israel to scramble warplanes.

Israeli media, citing security officials, said the incident stemmed from a feud between the plane’s two pilots, and everyone on board was safe. The plane landed in Tabuk, a civilian and military base in the kingdom.

The FlyDubai plane transmitted an emergency alert shortly after takeoff, according to publicly available flight tracking information.

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A regional official briefed on the incident said a fight broke out in the cockpit and apparently involved pilots. It wasn’t immediately clear what had caused the fight, the official said.

A second official confirmed that Israel had scrambled warplanes, fearing a hijacking of a plane carrying dozens of its citizens. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned in recent days of unspecified, escalated security threats.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the incident was still under investigation.

Netanyahu’s office later said the situation was under control and Israel was working to bring the passengers home.

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Emergency landings for personnel reasons are rare yet not unheard of. In 2022, two Air France pilots were suspended after fighting in the cockpit on a Geneva-Paris flight, though it did not have to be diverted and landed as planned.

FlyDubai is the lower-cost sister carrier of Emirates airlines. The United Arab Emirates has become a popular vacation destination for Israeli tourists since the countries normalised ties in 2020.

Israel has not experienced a hijacking in decades but maintains some of the strictest airport security in the world.