An altercation in the cockpit of a Flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv triggered an emergency diversion to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, with Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz describing the incident as a jihadist attack aimed at crashing the aircraft.
Flight FZ1073, operating from Dubai to Tel Aviv, landed safely at Tabuk in Saudi Arabia after an incident occurred in the flight deck. Flydubai confirmed that a confrontation took place onboard and said the crew secured the aircraft before diverting it.
Katz alleged that the person involved intended to bring down the plane and kill those onboard. Israeli officials have treated the episode as a serious security incident, although the exact motive and sequence of events remain under investigation.
The emergency prompted heightened security measures after the aircraft transmitted emergency signals while flying over Saudi Arabia.
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Israel also scrambled fighter jets as authorities initially assessed the possibility of a hijacking. Later reports indicated that the incident stemmed from a violent confrontation involving the pilots rather than a conventional hijacking.
Flydubai said all passengers were safe and accounted for and that the reasons and motives behind the incident were not yet known.
The airline also said the episode had no impact on its scheduled operations and that two replacement aircraft had been deployed to Tabuk.
The incident created an unusual situation as the passengers, travelling from the UAE to Israel, were diverted to Saudi Arabia, a country without diplomatic relations with Israel.
Israeli officials are continuing to examine what happened inside the cockpit and whether the confrontation was deliberate.
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Katz's characterisation of the event as a jihadist attack has not been independently established in the information currently available, while Flydubai has so far confirmed only the cockpit altercation and subsequent diversion.
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