Flydubai flight diverts to Saudi Arabia amid reports of pilot fight

Blu82

Blu82

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A flydubai Boeing 737 MAX 8 operating from Dubai to Tel Aviv diverted to Saudi Arabia on September 30, 2026, after transmitting emergency transponder codes, including one used to indicate unlawful interference with an aircraft.
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www.aerotime.aero

Flydubai FZ1073 diverts to Saudi Arabia after 7500 code

Flydubai flight FZ1073 diverted to Tabuk after transmitting 7700 and 7500 codes, as Israeli media reported a fight between the pilots.
www.aerotime.aero www.aerotime.aero
 
www.bbc.co.uk

Israel-bound flight lands in Saudi Arabia after 'fight' between pilots

An Israeli passenger on board tells journalists the crew asked for help, and that passengers helped tackle one of the pilots and tie him down.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

It’s reported the alarm was caused after a 'fight' between the pilot and the co-pilot.

An Israeli passenger on board has told journalists the crew asked for help and that passengers then helped tackle one of the pilots and tie him down.
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Flight FZ103 from Dubai to Tel Aviv issued an emergency signal for around seven minutes, shortly after an abrupt change of direction and descent over Saudi Arabia, according to data from Flightradar24.

The flight took off at 03:05 UTC (04:05 BST), after a 20-minute delay.

The emergency "squawk" code 7700, declaring a "general emergency" was issued at around 05:31 UTC.

Flightradar24 have since said on X that another emergency signal - 7500, declaring "unlawful interference" - was issued at 05:38, although this is not visible on their website.

The flight briefly entered Jordanian airspace at 05:40 before looping back into Saudi airspace six minutes later.
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Duplicate thread of this one.

Blu82

Thread 'Flydubai flight diverts to Saudi Arabia amid reports of pilot fight'

A flydubai Boeing 737 MAX 8 operating from Dubai to Tel Aviv diverted to Saudi Arabia on September 30, 2026, after transmitting emergency transponder codes, including one used to indicate unlawful interference with an aircraft.
Click to expand...

www.aerotime.aero

Flydubai FZ1073 diverts to Saudi Arabia after 7500 code

Flydubai flight FZ1073 diverted to Tabuk after transmitting 7700 and 7500 codes, as Israeli media reported a fight between the pilots.
www.aerotime.aero www.aerotime.aero
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An Israeli official reported that two other pilots in civil clothes travelling as passengers intervened successfully, these are also the ones shown on the passenger pictures with blood on their shirts. One of the pilots were citizens of South Africa, the other of New Zealand.
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Accident: Flydubai B38M near Tabuk on Sep 30th 2026, fight in the cockpit, first officer under investigation for suspected suicide attempt

Aviation Herald - News, Incidents and Accidents in Aviation
avherald.com avherald.com
 
Rumple4skin said:

Accident: Flydubai B38M near Tabuk on Sep 30th 2026, fight in the cockpit, first officer under investigation for suspected suicide attempt

Aviation Herald - News, Incidents and Accidents in Aviation
avherald.com avherald.com
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Wow, that escalated! The initial report sounded like a 'fight' (aka argument). I had no idea how serious it was: https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cw980g1lem5pt

When I last checked before going out at 11am the news was very sketchy:
A flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was diverted to Saudi Arabia after a "fight" between the pilots, Israeli officials have told local media.

The Flydubai plane - which took off from Dubai International Airport early on Wednesday - signalled an emergency code two hours into the journey, flight tracking website Flightradar24 says.

Minutes later it switched to a code used to report a hijacking, but was later turned back to the general emergency signal.

The emergency signal is thought to have been issued following an "altercation" between the pilot and co-pilot, local media reports, citing Israeli defence officials.

Flight FZ1073 - carrying about 150 people, most of whom are Israeli - was due to land at Ben-Gurion Airport but instead landed at Tabuk Airport in north-eastern Saudi Arabia.

This is a developing story - we'll have more details soon.
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Gordon_R said:
Oh no, can we 'blame' this on the Boeing MAX? (/sarcasm)

Edit: Good choice of landing airport, with a 10,000ft (3km) runway, and joint civil/military:
en.wikipedia.org

Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Airport - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
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UN has already called up an emergency session to blame Israel for its citizens attacking a mostly peaceful Omani pilot and taking illegal occupation of the cockpit.
 
Wow. Scary. Wondering if it was a suicidal pilot that had to be overwhelmed who wanted to take the plane down with him.
 
vigras rojara said:
Sky News reported that two passengers who were pilots intervened - a Kiwi and a Saffa.

So the Saffa may actually have been an Airlink pilot...
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The BBC reports differently. Nationality and country of origin are not always the same thing:
Another passenger, Almog Itali, tells the media these two pilots were "relief pilots" who were supposed to be operating a subsequent flight.

One of them was British, Itali says. He adds that the second relief pilot was European but did not specify their nationality.
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