A Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after a disturbance on board, and one passenger said assailants had been aboard and were subdued by those on the plane.
Flydubai and local media said on the 30th of last month that the Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight landed at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia after an emergency arose during the flight. The airline said the aircraft landed safely at Tabuk and that all passengers and crew were safe. The exact circumstances are under investigation.
Passengers were said to have been badly shaken. In footage reportedly filmed just after the scuffle, an Israeli passenger appears with blood on their face. Speaking to the camera, the passenger said the plane was being hijacked, that the attackers had been subdued and that the aircraft was about to land, and appealed for help from anyone who could hear him.
The same passenger went on to say the plane was landing in Tabuk, an unfamiliar place in Saudi Arabia, that everyone on board except the captain was unharmed and that they urgently needed help.
Passengers had earlier described shouting from the cockpit and a physical altercation. Some said a man wielding a weapon knocked a pilot to the floor and that blood was visible. Others said passengers and crew intervened and restrained the man. These accounts come from passengers, and the exact sequence of events remains under investigation.
The possibility of a hijacking was initially raised after the aircraft transmitted an emergency signal. The plane is reported to have sent a signal indicating a general emergency, followed by one used in cases of unlawful interference or hijacking. Israeli authorities mounted an emergency response and scrambled fighter jets.
Israeli officials later said it was not an actual hijacking. An Israeli official said the emergency signal was sent after a physical fight broke out between the two pilots. Flydubai also said only that an "incident" had occurred on board, without disclosing details.
Some early reports claimed that one pilot attacked the other with a weapon and tried to seize control of the aircraft. The exact circumstances and what happened in the cockpit are being investigated by the relevant authorities.
