Dubai to Tel Aviv flight lands in Saudi Arabia following emergency

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 flydubai plane's two pilots and that everyone on board was safe.

The plane landed in Tabuk, a civilian and military base in the kingdom's north-west.

Flight FZ1073 transmitted an emergency alert two and a half hours after take-off. It originated at Dubai International Airport and was en route to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, according to publicly available flight-tracking information.

Several minutes later the Boeing 737 transmitted another emergency signal that indicated possible unlawful interference, followed by the general emergency signal as it diverted in Jordanian airspace towards Saudi Arabia.

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.

It was also unclear whether either pilot had intentionally transmitted the signal.

Passengers on the plane told Israel's Channel 12 by phone that they heard shouts from passengers who heard the altercation between the pilots and that the plane dipped steeply before landing.

Yasmin Abu Kasis said her daughter Miriam was on the flight and told her she had heard screaming and that a man had taken a knife and put the pilot on the floor. Miriam said blood was visible.

Passengers said they were staying on the plane and that they were surrounded by Saudi security forces.

A second official confirmed that Israel had scrambled warplanes, fearing a hijacking of a plane carrying dozens of its citizens.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held consultations over the incident and later said the situation was "under control".

His office said all efforts were being made to bring the Israeli passengers back to Israel, which has no official diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia.

flydubai confirmed there had been an incident and that the plane had landed safely in Tabuk.

"Our teams are working closely with the relevant authorities," the carrier said.

"Further updates will be issued as additional confirmed details become available."

Mr Netanyahu has warned in recent days of unspecified, escalated security threats.

Israel has not experienced a hijacking in decades but maintains some of the strictest airport security in the world.

flydubai is the lower-cost sister carrier of Emirates. It operates daily flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv, a route that has become popular among Israeli nationals since the countries normalised relations in 2020.