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'Incident' on board Dubai-Tel Aviv flydubai flight; plane diverted to Saudi Arabia
Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk confirmed that the captain and first officer sustained injuries and were immediately transferred to hospital
- PUBLISHED: Wed 30 Sept 2026, 11:36 AM UPDATED: Thu 1 Oct 2026, 12:02 AM
A flydubai flight that took off from Dubai on Wednesday experienced an incident en route to Israel and landed safely at Tabuk Airport (TUU) in Saudi Arabia, the Dubai-based airline said in a statement.
Flight FZ 1073, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, was operating from Dubai International (DXB) to Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV) in Tel Aviv on September 30, 2026. The carrier did not disclose the nature of the incident, but confirmed all passengers are safe and accounted for.
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flydubai said the safety of everyone onboard is paramount. “The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew remain our highest priority,” a spokesperson for the carrier said. The airline added its teams are working closely with the relevant authorities. Further updates will be issued as additional confirmed details become available.
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According to flightradar24, a recovery flight was en route to Tabuk to pick up passengers from flight FZ 1073 and take them to Tel Aviv.
What happened?
According to flightradar24 data, the aircraft took off from Dubai at 03:05 UTC (07:05 UAE time).
Altitude fluctuations began at 05:21 UTC, and within a minute the aircraft dropped by more than 14,000 feet in under 30 seconds, according to the tracking data.
At 05:31 UTC, the aircraft's transponder squawk changed to 7700. At 05:38 UTC, it changed to 7500. The aircraft landed about an hour later.
Timeline (Note: Timings are in UTC, and Dubai time is 4 hours ahead of UTC)
03:05: Take-off from Dubai
05:21: Altitude fluctuations begin
05:22: Aircraft drops more than 14,000 ft in under 30 seconds
05:31: Squawk changes to 7700 (general emergency)
05:38: Squawk changes to 7500 (unlawful interference)
About 06:45: Lands at Tabuk Regional Airport
What squawk means
Pilots use four-digit transponder codes to alert air traffic control to an emergency. The 7700 code signals a general emergency, while 7500 signals unlawful interference, such as hijacking. Such codes show that an alert was raised, but they do not on their own establish what happened on board.
Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at the London-based StrategicAero Research, said the airplane nosedived rapidly as per data from Flightradar24.
“The bottom line for me is that the airplane landed safely without further incident to anyone onboard,” he added.
Pilots injured
Cluster2 Airports, which manages and operates 22 regional, domestic and international airports across Saudi Arabia, said on Wednesday that Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport (PSAIA) in Tabuk received a notification of a distress call from flydubai flight number (FZ1073), requesting an emergency landing at the airport.
The airport confirmed that the captain and first officer sustained injuries and were immediately transferred to hospital for necessary treatment.
It added that passengers were provided with the necessary assistance at the terminal and that coordination with flydubai is underway.
Passenger repatriation
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the incident is under control and all measures are currently being deployed in order to return the Israeli passengers safely to Israel.
Netanyahu held consultations on the matter and is monitoring developments.
'Unfounded' reports
Russian news outlet Tass cited the Russian Consulate General in Dubai as denying media reports about a Russian pilot who was allegedly on board the flydubai aircraft that made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, calling the claims "unfounded".
“The information circulating in the media that one of the pilots is allegedly a Russian citizen does not correspond to reality,” the diplomatic mission said.
