Israel scrambles fighter jets over suspected hijacking of Flydubai Dubai–Tel Aviv flight; plane disappears from radar and lands in Tabuk
Flight FZ1073 squawked 7700 and then 7500, flew at low altitude, and diverted to Saudi Arabia with over 150 Israelis on board. The IAF scrambled fighter jets. Netanyahu and Katz held a meeting. The flight landed in Tabuk; the government and the airline state it was not a hijacking, but a dispute between pilots.
Israel scrambled fighter jets on Wednesday morning amid suspicions of a hijacking aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073, en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv. More than 150 Israelis were on board the Boeing 737 MAX 8. Tracking services initially showed squawk code 7700 (general emergency), followed by 7500 (unlawful interference/possible hijacking). The aircraft diverted away from Israel, descended abruptly—CNN reported a drop of approximately 17,400 feet in two minutes—and flew at low altitude over Saudi Arabia. For several minutes, it disappeared from Flightradar24 and other tracking apps. Initial reports indicated there had been no contact with air traffic control since the alert began. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz convened for an urgent security meeting. Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir assessed the situation alongside the Air Force and the Operations and Intelligence directorates.
The situation shifted following the landing at Tabuk, a civil-military base in northwestern Saudi Arabia. The Prime Minister's Office told Reuters that the diversion "is not considered a hijacking." Official Israeli sources and CNN described an internal incident—a violent altercation between the two pilots. Israel National News and The Times of Israel reported that flydubai confirmed the emergency signal was activated during the cockpit brawl. There were approximately 174 passengers on board, 27 of whom were children. The crew was set to be questioned, and the cargo hold searched.
Code 7500 is the designation reserved by NATO and ICAO for cases of unlawful interference. Consequently, the IAF followed standard protocol: scrambling fighter jets and activating a crisis management team. Once the aircraft was on the ground, authorities concluded that the scare was not a forced hijacking, but rather a cockpit fight that triggered civil aviation's most serious emergency code and caused flight FZ1073 to disappear from radar screens until it reached Tabuk.
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