A flight operated by FlyDubai from Dubai to Tel Aviv was forced to divert to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday morning for an unscheduled landing following what the airline called “an incident while en route” to Israel.
Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia received a distress call from flight FZ1073 at 8:44 a.m. local time requesting emergency landing, with the aircraft touching down about an hour later, according to Saudi state-run TV channel Al-Ekhbariya. The pilot and co-pilot were injured and have been transferred to a hospital, while the airport is helping organize a replacement aircraft.
Data disclosed by flight-tracking website Flightradar suggest an dramatic flight path before the aircraft touched down. The Boeing Co. 737 began a steep descent almost 3 hours into the flight, followed by several more erratic altitude switches, according to Flightradar. After briefly entering Jordanian airspace, the flight turned back 180 degrees before heading southwest toward Tabuk, the site said.
Flight FZ1073 sent a general emergency code, known as 7700, before switching to a 7500 code signifying unlawful interference, suggesting a possible hijacking. The aircraft then switched back to 7700, the tracking service said.
Israeli Transportation Minister Miriam Regev held a situation assessment with all relevant parties and is closely monitoring the incident, which is being handled by security officials, according to a government statement. The nature of the issue experienced during flight hasn’t been officially disclosed, and authorities haven’t detailed what led to the diversion.
Flydubai’s 737 MAX 8 planes generally seat 174 people.
Tabuk is situated in northwestern Saudi Arabia, near the Jordan–Saudi Arabia border. Flydubai said its teams are working closely with the relevant authorities to consider the next steps.
A spokesperson for Israel’s transportation ministry said Emirati authorities are working to repatriate the Israelis stranded in Saudi Arabia. Israeli Prime Minister’s office also said that “all measures are currently being deployed in order to return the Israeli passengers safely to Israel.”
Doron Spielman, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, initially ruled out a hijacking – but said two hours later that this assessment had changed. He didn’t immediately elaborate.
Plane hijackings have been increasingly rare in recent decades as governments developed international protocols and regulations to increase safety in the air. Israel has some of the strictest security measures for flights following a spate of attempted and realized hijackings in the 1970s.
Flydubai, the sister carrier of Emirates, started daily flights between Tel Aviv and Dubai in late 2020 with daily flights and has since ramped up operations to 70 weekly flights, according to the airline’s website. The United Arab Emirates has become a popular vacation destination for Israeli tourists.
–With assistance from Ethan Bronner and Dan Williams.
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Bloomberg news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.