Flydubai flight to Israel diverted to Saudi Arabia after onboard incident

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 been diverted back to Dubai, but later information indicated that those reports were erroneous and the flight continued towards Tel Aviv. Al Jazeera's Zein Basravi reports from Doha and Nida Ibrahim from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on X: https://X.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/ Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/ Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.news/AJEMobile #Dubai #TelAvivi #UAE #Israel #Flydubai #FZ1073 #DubaiTelAvivFlight #Tabuk #SaudiArabia #AviationIncident #EmergencyLanding #FlightDiversion #FZ1081 #AlJazeeraEgnlish #BreakingNews