Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight lands in Saudi Arabia after cockpit emergency
Constantvpn.com – A Flydubai service heading from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an unplanned landing in northeastern Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after a serious incident on board left two flight crew members injured.
Flight FZ1073 departed Dubai International Airport at 03:05 GMT, or 07:05 local time, with roughly 150 people on board. Most of the passengers were Israeli. The aircraft had been scheduled to continue to Ben-Gurion Airport, but changed course after an emergency developed during the journey.
The aircraft ultimately landed at Tabuk Airport at 06:58. The company operating the airport said the captain and first officer were hurt and taken to hospital, without identifying the cause of their injuries. Flydubai said every passenger was safe and accounted for, and that it was working with the relevant authorities.
Emergency signals and sudden descent
Flight-tracking information showed an abrupt loss of altitude over Saudi Arabia about two and a half hours after departure. At approximately 05:21, the aircraft descended by more than 17,000ft, or over 5,000 metres, in under two minutes.
Shortly afterwards, the flight transmitted squawk 7700, the standard emergency transponder code used to alert air-traffic controllers that an aircraft requires immediate assistance. That signal was then changed to squawk 7500, a code associated with an unlawful interference or hijacking alert.
The flight briefly entered Jordanian airspace before turning back towards Saudi Arabia at about 05:40. It later began a manual descent before reaching Tabuk.
Such emergency codes do not by themselves establish precisely what happened inside an aircraft. They are, however, designed to ensure that air-traffic authorities quickly recognise a potentially urgent safety or security event and can prioritise the plane’s landing.
Accounts describe an apparent stabbing
Initial accounts in Israeli media described a confrontation involving two pilots. Channel 12 and Channel 14 later cited an official who said one pilot stabbed the other before being restrained.
Passengers have also described a violent episode near the cockpit, though the details have not been independently confirmed by police, emergency services or investigators. No official explanation for the apparent attack, or its possible motive, had been issued.
Yasmin Abukasis said her daughter, who was travelling on the flight, told her that a man carrying a knife forced one of the pilots to the floor and that blood was visible in the cabin area. Abukasis, speaking from Ben Gurion Airport, said her daughter heard screams and a pilot calling for help.
She said other pilots took over while passengers moved towards the man with the knife.
The plane start to lose control. So all the people, they scream, they think they are going,
Abukasis said.
A female passenger described the descent as an extremely tense moment. She told Israel Hayom that people believed the pilots had lost control of the aircraft.
We understood the pilots lost control. There are people here with shirts covered in blood. Now we are fine and want to return home.
Another passenger told the Jerusalem Post that people seated near the front helped remove the alleged attacker from the cockpit after the co-pilot was injured. The same account said two pilots who had been elsewhere on the aircraft assisted with landing it safely.
Almog Itali, another passenger, said one of the pilots involved in bringing the plane down was British and the other was European, though no specific nationality was given for the second pilot.
Authorities respond as passengers await onward travel
Israeli and Saudi Arabian air forces sent fighter jets after the incident, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held urgent consultations. He later said the situation was under control.
The episode drew attention not only because of the injuries reported in the cockpit, but also because the diversion took the Dubai-to-Israel flight into Saudi Arabia. Tabuk lies in the country’s northwest, close to Jordan and the Gulf of Aqaba, making it a practical emergency destination for an aircraft travelling across the region.
For passengers, an emergency diversion can involve a lengthy wait even after a safe landing. Airline staff and local authorities must assess medical needs, security arrangements, the condition of the aircraft and clearance for any replacement service. Reports indicated that a recovery flight was being sent to Tabuk to collect those who had been travelling on FZ1073.
Flydubai has not provided further details about what occurred during the flight. Its statement confirmed only that the aircraft experienced an incident while en route and that its teams were coordinating with authorities.
The central questions remain unresolved: what caused the crew members’ injuries, who was involved, how the cockpit situation developed and whether any criminal investigation will follow. Until officials release verified findings, passenger accounts and early media descriptions should be treated as accounts of a rapidly unfolding emergency rather than a complete explanation of the event.
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