Cockpit Fight Diverts flydubai FZ1073 to Tabuk, Triggers Israeli Jet Scramble

flydubai flight FZ1073, bound from Dubai to Tel Aviv with about 174 passengers, diverted to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia on 30 September 2026 after an apparent physical fight between its two pilots. The 737 squawked a general emergency, then an unlawful-interference code, before reverting to the general emergency code. Israel scrambled fighter jets on the assumption of a hijacking. Both pilots were hospitalised, and flydubai says all passengers are safe and accounted for. A hijacking has been ruled out by Israeli officials, but details of the cockpit incident remain unverified.