‘Violent incident’ between pilots sparks diversion of Israel-bound flight to Saudi Arabia, sources say | CNN

A “violent incident” between two pilots caused a Flydubai aircraft traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv to divert to Saudi Arabia, sources have told CNN.

The aircraft descended 17,400 feet – from 34,000 to around 16,600 feet – over northwestern Saudi Arabia in just over two minutes at around 1:20 a.m. ET, flight tracking data reviewed by CNN shows. The plane then transmitted an emergency signal at 1:32 a.m. ET, and landed just before 3 a.m. ET in Saudi Arabia.

A Flydubai spokesperson said flight FZ 1073 “experienced an incident while en route” and landed at Tabuk Airport in the northwest of the kingdom. It said that all passengers were safe and accounted for.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that the situation was under control and “all measures are now being taken to safely return the Israeli passengers to Israel.”

An Israeli official said the incident was not a hijacking, adding that they understood it to be an internal personnel incident onboard.

Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz held a security consultation and Israeli fighter jets were scrambled after the emergency signal was sent, an Israeli military spokesperson told CNN

The emergency landing in Tabuk marked a rare mass arrival of Israelis in Saudi Arabia, which has no diplomatic relations with Israel.

Saudi Arabia opened its airspace to Israel-bound flights and Israeli airlines in 2022 as part of a US-brokered normalization push. Riyadh says it will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without an independent Palestinian state.

This is a developing story and will be updated.