Flydubai flight to Israel diverted to Saudi Arabia after onboard incident

By Al Jazeera English

Community Score: 50% | 78.2K views | 2w

0 community ratings: null thumbs up, null thumbs down

Flydubai flight FZ1073, travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, made an emergency landing at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia after an onboard incident triggered emergency and unlawful-interference alerts. The Boeing 737 MAX 8 landed safely and all passengers were accounted for, while the pilot and co-pilot were reportedly injured and taken to hospital. Flight-tracking data showed the aircraft experienced a rapid loss of altitude during the incident before stabilising and diverting to Tabuk. Reports citing passengers and Israeli officials said there was a physical altercation involving the pilots, although Flydubai has only confirmed that an “incident” occurred and investigations are continuing. Israeli authorities initially treated the situation as a possible security threat, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convening a security meeting, while Israeli officials worked to arrange the return of passengers from Saudi Arabia. A second Flydubai flight, FZ1081, was initially reported to have

Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu, Dubai, Dubai to Tel Aviv flight, FZ1073, FZ1073 diverted to Saudi Arabia, FZ1073 emergency landing, FZ1073 flight, FZ1081, FZ1081 Dubai Tel Aviv, Flydubai, Flydubai FZ1073 incident, Flydubai FZ1081, Flydubai Tabuk, Flydubai flight incident, Flydubai pilot incident, Flydubai pilots injured, Israel, Israeli passengers Saudi Arabia, Tabuk Airport, Tel Aviv