Flydubai flight to Israel diverted after pilots reportedly fight in cockpit

A flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was diverted to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after a “violent incident” involving its two pilots, CNN quoted Israeli officials as saying.

Flight FZ1073 landed safely at Tabuk airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia, with all passengers accounted for, flydubai said.

The flight had “experienced an incident while en route”, Forbes quoted the airline as saying.

Both the captain and co-pilot were taken to hospital with injuries, the airport operator in Saudi Arabia said. It did not provide details about how they were injured and said that the incident was under investigation.

Two unidentified Israeli officials told Reuters that the co-pilot was believed to have stabbed the captain before cabin crew members entered the cockpit and took control of the plane.

First images from @flydubai flight: one of the passengers with blood on his shirt https://t.co/zfJ4UsDeaO pic.twitter.com/XDLzuz0DbE— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) September 30, 2026

Images and videos purportedly showing blood on board have also been widely shared on social media, but could not be independently verified.

The plane, which took off from Dubai early on Wednesday, sent an emergency signal about two hours into the flight, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24. Minutes later, the signal indicated a possible hijacking before being switched back to a general emergency alert.

The flight had suddenly and rapidly descended by nearly 14,000 feet in less than ​30 seconds before a...

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