Israel-bound passenger plane makes emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after reported fight between pilots

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

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

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

About two and a half hours after departing from Dubai, it abruptly descended from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet within a minute, before making an erratic circle close to the Jordanian border and landing in Tabuk about an hour later, according to FlightRadar24.

A regional official briefed on the incident said a fight broke out in the cockpit and apparently involved pilots. It was not 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. The 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.

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.

Passengers told Israel’s Channel 12 by phone that they heard shouts from those sitting towards the front of the plane who heard the altercation between the pilots, and the plane dipped steeply before landing in Saudi Arabia.

They also said that all the passengers were staying on the plane and that there was a heavy presence of Saudi security forces surrounding them.

FlyDubai later confirmed that flight FZ 1073 en route to Ben Gurion experienced an incident and landed safely in Tabuk on Wednesday.

“Our teams are working closely with the relevant authorities,” the carrier said. “Further updates will be issued as additional confirmed details become available.”

Flight-tracking data indicated that the plane was a Boeing 737 Max 8.