FlyDubai flight from Dubai to Israel diverts to Saudi Arabia after pilots fight in cockpit A FlyDubai Boeing 737 Max 8 flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv landed in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after a cockpit altercation between its two pilots, prompting Israel to scramble warplanes over hijacking fears. A FlyDubai commercial plane travelling from Dubai to Israel made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after a reported fight between its two pilots, an incident that briefly raised concerns about a possible hijacking and prompted Israel to scramble warplanes. The flight, FZ 1073 en route to Ben Gurion Airport, landed safely in Tabuk, a city in the kingdom that hosts both a civilian airport and a military base. FlyDubai confirmed the diversion and said its teams were working closely with the relevant authorities. Israeli media, citing security officials, said the incident stemmed from a feud between the plane's two pilots. Everyone on board was safe.Cockpit Fight Investigation UnderwayA regional official briefed on the matter said a fight broke out in the cockpit and apparently involved the pilots, though it was not immediately clear what caused it. The crew were questioned as part of the investigation, the regional official said, without saying whether anyone had been detained. An Israeli official said Israel believes the incident may have been an attempt to attack Israelis, but the investigation is still ongoing.A third official confirmed that Israel had scrambled warplanes, fearing a hijacking of a plane carrying dozens of its citizens. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned in recent days of unspecified, escalated security threats. All three officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the incident was still under investigation. Netanyahu's office said the situation was under control and Israel was working to bring the passengers home.The plane had transmitted an emergency alert, according to publicly available flight tracking information. About two and a half hours after departing from Dubai, the aircraft abruptly descended from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet, roughly 10,000 to 5,200 metres, within a minute. It then made an erratic circle close to the Jordanian border before eventually landing in Tabuk about an hour later, according to FlightRadar24.Flight Path and Passenger AccountsPassengers told Israel's Channel 12 by phone that they heard shouts from those sitting farther forward on the plane who heard the altercation between the pilots. They said the plane dipped steeply before landing in Saudi Arabia. The passengers also said everyone was staying on the plane and that there was a heavy presence of Saudi security forces surrounding them. FlyDubai later confirmed that flight FZ 1073 experienced an incident and landed safely in Tabuk on Wednesday.Our teams are working closely with the relevant authorities, the carrier said. Further updates will be issued as additional confirmed details become available. Flight-tracking data indicated that the plane was a Boeing 737 Max 8. FlyDubai is the lower-cost sister carrier of Emirates airlines.The low-cost carrier's fleet relies entirely on variants of the 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle aircraft widely used by airlines around the world. It has nearly 100 of the planes, including 69 of the Max 8 variant. Dubai International Airport, where the plane took off from, is by far the Middle East's busiest airport and the world's largest in terms of international travel. It handled a record 95.2 million passengers last year.Israel UAE Flights and Aviation HistoryThe United Arab Emirates has become a popular vacation destination for Israeli tourists since the countries normalized ties in 2020. Commercial flights have flown between Israel and the UAE since then. Emergency landings for personnel reasons are rare yet not unheard of. In 2022, two Air France pilots were suspended after fighting in the cockpit on a Geneva-Paris flight, though that plane did not have to be diverted and landed as planned.Israelis were targeted in a string of hijackings and airplane attacks by Palestinian militants in the 1960s and 1970s. Israel has not experienced a hijacking in decades but maintains some of the strictest airport security in the world, including often invasive check-in procedures for Israel-bound flights. Samy Magdy, Sam Metz and Melanie Lidman, The Associated Press. Magdy reported from Cairo and Metz from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Adam Schreck in Bangkok contributed to this report.