Flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv lands in Saudi Arabia after ‘incident’

A Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was diverted to Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia after an incident occurred on board. According to the airline, the flight "experienced an incident while en route" and landed safely, with all passengers accounted for.

The incident involved an altercation between the pilots, with one report from Middle East Eye suggesting that this led to a hijacking alert being sent. However, Israeli officials later ruled out a hijacking. The flight, which carried 180 Israeli passengers, had taken off from Dubai and was headed to Ben Gurion Airport.

The plane transmitted an emergency signal shortly after takeoff, prompting a response from Israeli leaders and the dispatch of fighter jets. The passengers were reported to be safe, and an investigation into the incident is likely to follow.

Brief written by urgent.news from Malay Mail, Middle East Eye, France 24, ABC News (US), Euronews — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.