Flight FZ 1073 lands safely at Tabuk Airport after transmitting emergency transponder signals; all passengers and crew reported unharmed.
DUBAI — A flydubai passenger jet traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an unscheduled landing in northwestern Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after encountering an in-flight disturbance, carrier officials and aviation monitors said.
The Boeing aircraft operating Flight FZ 1073 touched down without injury at Tabuk Regional Airport (TUU), where ground personnel met the plane. The carrier confirmed that everyone on board disembarked safely.
“Our teams are working closely with the relevant authorities,” a flydubai spokesperson said in an official statement. “The safety and well-being of our passengers and crew remain our highest priority. Further updates will be issued as additional confirmed details become available.”
Aviation tracking logs from Flightradar24 revealed that the crew initially set the aircraft’s transponder to squawk code 7500—an internationally recognized alert designating unlawful interference or hijacking. Moments later, while descending through roughly 5,000 feet near Tabuk airspace, the flight crew updated the transponder to squawk code 7700, the standard code indicating a general airborne emergency, before completing an approach into Tabuk.
Israeli officials later stated that the emergency squawks and sudden diversion followed an altercation between the flight deck crew members mid-flight.
Following the unexpected diversion, the Israel Defense Forces convened an assessment involving senior military leadership. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir reviewed the situation alongside Israeli Air Force chief Maj. Gen. Omer Tischler, Operations Directorate head Maj. Gen. Itzik Cohen, and Intelligence Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder.
flydubai has not publicly commented on the nature of the cockpit dispute, maintaining that technical and administrative coordination with Saudi aviation counterparts is actively underway.
