Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv diverted to Saudi Arabia

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A flydubai passenger plane going from Dubai to Tel Aviv was diverted towards Saudi Arabia on Wednesday morning. The flight had to land here.

It is being told in the Israeli media that there was a fight between the pilots during the flight, after which the plane sent an emergency code and there was a fear of hijacking for some time.

The plane, operating as FZ1073, was carrying about 180 Israeli passengers. The plane first sent squawk code 7700, indicating a general emergency. After this the code was changed to 7500, which indicates illegal interference with the aircraft. Later the plane again sent the initial code 7700.

During the incident, the Israeli Air Force dispatched warplanes and raised its alert level in preparation for a possible emergency, the Jerusalem Post reported.

According to data from Flight Radar 24, the plane suddenly changed direction over Saudi Arabia and issued an emergency signal for about seven minutes shortly after landing.

Amit Segal, chief political analyst for Israeli broadcaster N12 News, wrote on Twitter, "It appears that there was a scuffle between the two pilots during the flight, after which the entire Middle East was put on high alert."

Reposting this comment, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee wrote, "This morning this incident has put people and security agencies on full alert throughout the Middle East, especially in Israel." It is good that the matter did not become more serious than this. But it is certainly not a common experience for pilots to get into a scuffle with each other during a flight and divert the plane to land.