JERUSALEM — A flight carrying about 180 passengers to Tel Aviv from Dubai made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after a violent struggle between pilots prompted a hijacking distress signal and Israel to scramble fighter jets.
Israeli officials said they believed that one pilot stabbed another and were investigating the possibility of a serious security incident or terrorist attack, a person familiar with the matter said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.
Flydubai Flight 1073 experienced “an incident while en route,” a Flydubai spokesperson said, adding that all passengers were safe and accounted for.
Neither the airline nor Israeli government officials have given further details about what occurred on board. However, Israeli news outlets broadcast interviews with passengers describing a fight involving the pilots inside the cockpit and saying other passengers rushed in to subdue the assailant. Photos showed passengers returning to their seats with bloodied shirts.
Roughly two hours and 20 minutes after takeoff, the plane began a sharp descent from 34,000 feet and briefly entered a nosedive over the desert near the Saudi-Jordanian border. It lost half its altitude in less than two minutes, publicly available flight data showed.
The plane stabilized after 10 minutes of erratic flying, and someone in the cockpit activated the 7700 and 7500 emergency distress codes, signaling “general emergency” and “unlawful interference,” according to Flightradar24.com. The plane, a Boeing 737 Max, eventually landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Passenger Dalia Shpigel, 74, said she felt the plane suddenly lose altitude and that it was “rising and dropping with no control at all” about an hour before the scheduled landing. Another passenger who saw a struggle in the cockpit began screaming.
“Three to five guys broke into the cockpit, neutralized the terrorist and started treating the wounded pilots,” Shpigel said in a voice message. “A few minutes later, we felt the plane stabilize … and we continued the flight.”
The 7500 distress code, which is used to signal a possible hijacking, set off alarms at the highest levels, with the Israeli Air Force ordering fighter jets toward the passenger plane and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his senior security officials holding urgent meetings.
About an hour after the initial distress signal, Netanyahu’s office issued a statement saying “the incident is under control and all means are now being employed to bring the Israeli passengers back safely to Israel.”
An Israeli military official said its fighter jets had turned back before the plane landed at Tabuk.
Tabuk airport said in a statement that two pilots had sustained injuries and had been sent to a hospital for medical treatment. The passengers were waiting inside the plane as of Wednesday afternoon.
It was not immediately clear how the Israeli passengers would be repatriated or whether they would be allowed to enter Saudi Arabia, given that the two countries do not have diplomatic ties.
The hijacking alarm spiked fears amid the ongoing U.S.-led war against Iran, and raised memories of the 1960s and 1970s, when flights to and from Israel were frequently seized by Palestinian militants.
Hijackings have since declined significantly because of improved security measures at airports and on board planes.
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