Editorial photo credit: Markus Mainka – stock.adobe.com
FZ1073 squawked 7700 and 7500 over Jordan before landing at Tabuk. Both pilots were hospitalized.
A flydubai Boeing 737 MAX 8 bound for Tel Aviv diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday, September 30. The diversion followed what Israeli officials describe as a violent altercation between the two pilots on the flight deck.
Flight FZ1073 departed Dubai for Ben Gurion Airport with more than 170 passengers aboard. Flightradar24 data shows the aircraft over Jordanian airspace when it set the general emergency code 7700. Several minutes later it switched to 7500, the code for unlawful interference, and then returned to 7700 before landing at Tabuk. Tracking data also showed the aircraft losing nearly 14,000 feet in about 30 seconds.
The 7500 squawk set off a major security response in Israel. The Israeli military scrambled fighter jets. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held consultations, and IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir convened a situational assessment with the air force commander.
A spokesperson for the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, Doron Spielman, later told Reuters that the event was not believed to be a hijacking and called it a “different incident.” Two Israeli officials told Reuters they believe the first officer stabbed the captain before cabin crew entered the flight deck and control of the aircraft was regained.
Other accounts from officials and passengers say passengers and off-duty crew traveling on the flight helped restrain the first officer. These accounts have not been independently confirmed.
Tabuk Airport said the captain and the first officer were both injured and taken to hospital. It did not say how the injuries happened.
flydubai said the flight experienced an incident en route and landed safely. The airline said all passengers are safe and accounted for, and that it is working with the relevant authorities. The carrier is sending a replacement aircraft to Tabuk to carry the passengers onward.
flydubai is the low-cost sister carrier of Emirates and operates daily service between Dubai and Tel Aviv. The investigation is ongoing, and no official finding on the cause or motive has been released.
Sources: Reuters, via CNBC and Cyprus Mail; CNN; ABC News (Australia); Fox News; Flightradar24.
