A Flydubai plane sent a distress call and diverted to Saudi Arabia following a quarrel between the pilot and his co-pilot

A Flydubai plane, coming from Dubai to Ben Gurion Airport with 174 passengers on board, including 27 children, sent a short distress call (“7700” and “7500”) on Wednesday morning (September 30, 2026).

The use of this symbol indicates the possibility of her being kidnapped, while she was landing manually and trying to turn around. The plane was diverted to Saudi Arabia, its altitude was reduced, and Israeli fighter planes were called in.

After minutes of anxiety and anticipation in Israel, security officials reassured everyone that the plane had landed at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia, a civilian and military base in the Kingdom, according to a report on the details of the incident as reported by the German newspaper “Bild.”

It later became clear that the distress call was the result of a violent incident on board the plane: a quarrel between the Russian pilot and his Ukrainian co-pilot. Flydubai and the Israeli government confirmed the incident.

However, as a precaution, flights departing from Israel's Ben Gurion Airport were temporarily suspended, while flights have since resumed normally.

Distress calls and urgent diversion

Flydubai CEO, Dean Fisher, announced that a plane was being sent from Dubai to Saudi Arabia to transport passengers and complete their journey to Israel.

Following the incident, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz held an urgent security meeting, according to the Jerusalem Post.

An IDF spokesman provided a statement after landing: “After receiving the reports, the Chief of Staff held a last-minute briefing with the Air Force Commander, the Chief of General Staff, the Chief of Military Intelligence, and other leaders.”

Here's what happened: Flydubai flight FZ1073 took off from Dubai at 7:05 a.m. local time, and was scheduled to land at Ben Gurion Airport at around 9:30 a.m.

About an hour and a half later, upon entering Jordanian airspace, the plane sent first the international distress code 7700 and then 7500, indicating a possible hijacking.

The German newspaper "Bild" reported that at the same time, the plane turned around and returned to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and flew at a low altitude. After flying south, it headed west into Saudi territory.

According to flight tracking data analyzed by CNN, the plane descended 17,400 feet, from 34,000 feet to about 16,600 feet, in just two minutes over northwestern Saudi Arabia.