Israel-bound flight makes an emergency landing

A fight between pilots on a commercial plane traveling from the United Arab Emirates to Israel yesterday forced the aircraft to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, two officials said.

The episode raised concerns about a possible hijacking of a plane carrying dozens of Israelis and prompted Israel to scramble warplanes.

The FlyDubai flight landed safely, but Israel believes there might have been an attempt to attack Israelis, and an investigation is ongoing, an Israeli official said.

People line up at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod, Israel, yesterday after a FlyDubai aircraft bound for Israel was diverted to Saudi Arabia following an emergency signal.

Photo: Reuters

About two-and-a-half hours after departing from Dubai, the plane sent an emergency alert, publicly available flight tracking information showed.

The flight abruptly descended from about 10,000m to 5,100m in about the space of a minute, before making an erratic circle close to the Jordanian border and eventually landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, about an hour later, Flightradar24 data showed.

An Israeli official said a fight broke out between two pilots, one of whom was armed with a knife. A regional official briefed on the incident also said a fight broke out in the cockpit and apparently involved pilots.

A Flydubai Boeing 737 MAX 8 performs a display flight at Al-Maktoum International Airport during the Dubai Airshow on 17 November 2025.

Photo: AFP

“The crew have been questioned as part of the investigation,” the regional official added, but did not say if anyone had been detained.

They said it was not immediately clear what caused the fight.

A third official confirmed that Israel had scrambled warplanes, fearing a hijacking.

All three officials spoke on condition of anonymity, because the incident was under investigation.