A Plane Flying To Israel Transmitted A Code Indicating A Hijacking

• 30.09.2026, 9:59

(updated) It turns out two pilots got into a fight in the sky.

A morning Flydubai flight, flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv, made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after the crew sent a distress signal to air traffic controllers reporting that the aircraft had been hijacked. The cause of the international alarm was a fight between the pilots themselves, according to the Israeli news site Ynet.

There were 174 passengers on board the aircraft, including 27 children. During the flight, the plane suddenly switched to manual descent, made a turn in mid-air, and briefly transmitted a distress code signaling an attack on the crew or an attempted hijacking.

In Israel, the incident immediately triggered the highest level of alert: military fighter jets were scrambled, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz convened an emergency operational meeting.

After several minutes of tense waiting, security services clarified the situation and called off the alert. It turned out that there was no terrorist threat; the distress signal had been accidentally triggered during a brawl: the pilots got into a heated argument right in the cockpit and came to blows. The plane was diverted to the nearest airport in the Saudi city of Tabuk, where it landed safely.