Flydubai FZ1073 squawks 7700 then 7500, then 7700 again; aircraft diverts to Tabuk

Flightradar24 reported that flydubai flight FZ1073, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 registered A6-FKF on the Dubai–Tel Aviv route, squawked 7700 (general emergency), then briefly 7500 (unlawful interference / possible hijacking), then 7700 again. The tracker said there was no confirmation of what was happening on board and that the jet was on approach to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Spotters later posted that it had landed.

Code 7500 is the ICAO transponder signal for unlawful interference. It triggers military and security protocols. The Israel Air Force raised alert and scrambled fighters. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a security consultation. Reports put more than 150 people on board, many of them Israeli. The aircraft had turned over Jordan into Saudi airspace and descended toward Tabuk.

Israeli officials and CNN sources later said the event was not a hijacking. A spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office told Reuters the diversion was “not believed to be a hijacking.” CNN, citing sources, described a “violent incident” or altercation between the two pilots and an “internal personnel incident.” Walla and other Israeli outlets reported the same line after landing: crew to be questioned, hold to be searched, no confirmed seizure of the aircraft. Flydubai had not issued a detailed public explanation at the time of the first tracker alert. Until the airline and Saudi and Israeli authorities publish a joint account, the only hard facts remain the squawk sequence, the diversion to Tabuk, and the official denial of hijacking.