A flydubai passenger plane travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after an incident involving its pilots, briefly sparking buzz of a possible hijacking and prompting Israel to scramble fighter jets. Video published by Hebrew-language media appears to show the moments after the aircraft reached Tabuk airport. Passengers can be heard singing, clapping and celebrating as the plane comes in to land.
“Further updates will be issued as additional confirmed details become available. The video could not be independently verified by NDTV. About two and a half hours after leaving Dubai, the aircraft abruptly descended from around 33,000ft to 17,000ft within roughly one minute, according to FlightRadar24 data.
The song heard in the video is “Od Avinu Chai”, a Hebrew phrase that translates as “Our Father still lives. The flight, flydubai FZ 1073, was travelling from Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates to Ben Gurion Airport in Israel when it diverted to Tabuk, a Saudi city that is home to both civilian and military facilities. flydubai later confirmed that the aircraft had experienced an “incident” while en route and landed safely. Read | flydubai Flight Drops 17,400 Feet In 2 Minutes Amid Possible Hijack Alert “Our teams are working closely with the relevant authorities,” the airline said. The carrier said all passengers were safe and accounted for.
Israeli media, citing security officials, reported that a dispute between the two pilots allegedly escalated into a physical fight in the cockpit. Neither Flydubai nor the authorities in Israel, Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates have publicly confirmed the details of the reported confrontation. Read | Pilot Tried To Take Control Of flydubai Plane, Terror Attack Not Ruled Out They also described the aircraft making a steep descent before eventually landing in Saudi Arabia. Photos published by the outlets appeared to show a passenger wearing a bloodied T-shirt. That claim has not been independently verified.
Passengers told Israel’s Channel 12 by telephone that they heard shouting from the forward section of the aircraft, where they understood a fight between the pilots was taking place. Channel 12 also reported that authorities were examining whether one of the pilots might have attempted to crash the aircraft deliberately, with the other pilot intervening.
Some passengers intervened to separate the pilots, according to Israeli media reports.
