A Flydubai Boeing 737 on the tarmac at Dubai International Airport, Nov. 22, 2023. (Archive photo: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP)
A flight operated by Emirati carrier Flydubai, scheduled to travel from Dubai to Tel Aviv with dozens of Israelis on board, sent out conflicting distress signals before finally landing at a regional airport in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. While the incident raised concerns about a hijacking, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly stated it was not an "abduction."
The alert was first reported by the online tracking site flightradar24, which indicated that flight FZ109373 sent out a "7700" alert (for a general emergency), which was then changed to "7500" (unlawful interference), and then switched back to "7700." According to Israeli officials cited by Haaretz, the signal was sent "following a physical altercation between the aircraft's pilots."
The Israeli Air Force dispatched fighter jets in response to the incident, Haaretz added, and the plane, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, ultimately landed at Tabuk airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia. Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz are taking part in a security meeting dedicated to the incident, which comes a day after Netanyahu said there were "indications" that Israel's "enemies" could carry out attacks against the country ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for the end of October. The Israeli military said that its Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir, had conducted a situation assessment with the air force commander and other senior military officials.
