A flydubai Boeing 737 MAX 8 flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv diverted to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday 30 September after a violent struggle on the flight deck triggered both emergency and hijack transponder codes.
Israel scrambled fighter jets in response. The aircraft landed safely, and all 174 passengers, including 27 children, are accounted for.
The flight was FZ1073, operated by 737 MAX 8 A6-FKF. Israeli authorities first treated the event as a potential hijacking.
Security officials later linked the alarm to a physical altercation between the two pilots, although the official account has shifted considerably throughout the day.
What Happened on flydubai Flight FZ1073
Flightradar24 data shows FZ1073 left Dubai International at 03:05 UTC, twenty minutes behind its scheduled 02:45 UTC departure.
The service was due into Ben Gurion Airport at 06:10 UTC.
Roughly 90 minutes into the flight, as the jet entered Jordanian airspace, the aircraft transmitted squawk 7700 to signal a general emergency.
The transponder then switched to 7500, the code reserved for unlawful interference with an aircraft.
Tracking data captured a dramatic loss of height at the same moment.
The 737 MAX fell from close to 34,000 feet at 05:21 UTC to below 17,000 feet a minute later.
The crew turned the aircraft back into Saudi airspace, flew south at a lower level and then tracked west towards Tabuk.
Israel Scrambles Fighter Jets
The hijack code set off a major security response in Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz convened an urgent security consultation.
Israel Police established a joint command centre with other agencies, and Israeli Air Force fighters launched while officials tried to establish what was happening on board.
An Israeli security official said early on that there was no firm evidence of a hijacking.
The official added that controllers could not make contact with the pilot, which heightened concern.
flydubai Confirms Safe Landing in Tabuk
The flydubai jet landed at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Airport in Tabuk shortly before 07:00 UTC.
In a short statement, flydubai confirmed that FZ1073 “experienced an incident while en route” and that all passengers were safe and accounted for. The airline did not describe what took place in the cockpit.
Both pilots left the aircraft after landing. flydubai said it would dispatch a replacement aircraft to carry passengers on to Israel.
Conflicting Accounts Emerge
The story has moved quickly. Israeli media first described a fight between the captain and the first officer.
Channel 12 and Channel 14 then reported that investigators were examining whether one pilot had deliberately put the aircraft into a descent before his colleague intervened.
Israeli officials now say they believe one pilot stabbed the other and tried to take control of the aircraft, and that Israeli passengers helped restrain him.
One passenger said a dentist travelling on the flight treated the injured pilot, who was reportedly in a critical condition. Israel is now said to be treating the event as an attempted terror attack.
Neither flydubai nor the Saudi authorities have confirmed these claims. The Aviation Hub will update this report as verified details emerge.
About the Aircraft
A6-FKF is a Boeing 737 MAX 8 and a regular performer on the flydubai Tel Aviv network.
The aircraft flew the FZ1081 and FZ1082 rotation on 28 September and operated FZ1541 and FZ1542 on 24 September.
In the day before the incident, it also flew to Mineralnye Vody, Sulaimaniyah and Doha.
What Happens Next
Investigators will want the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from A6-FKF.
Those recordings should show who was flying, how the descent began and how the crew regained control.
Authorities in Saudi Arabia, where the aircraft landed, and the UAE, where it is registered, are both likely to play a role.
The case will also renew scrutiny of flight deck security and crew welfare.
Regulators and airlines have debated both issues extensively since the Germanwings tragedy in 2015, and an event of this nature will test current safeguards at flydubai and beyond.
For now, the key facts are clear.
A passenger jet bound for Israel transmitted a hijack code, lost altitude rapidly and diverted to Saudi Arabia.
Every passenger walked off alive, and the full story of what happened in the flydubai cockpit remains to be told.
UPDATE #1 @ 1236 UK time – Image shows damage to the aircraft’s rudder following the rapid descent. Flightradar24 reports a 14,000 foot drop in 30 seconds.
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