A commercial aircraft travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. Flydubai flight FZ1073 landed safely in Tabuk, in the country’s west, after issuing an alert.
The aircraft transmitted a 7700 squawk code. Online speculation about the cause included reports of an altercation between the pilots. Israeli officials told media outlets, including The Times of Israel, that the incident was not a hijacking.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called urgent meetings to monitor the situation. Israeli Air Force fighter jets were scrambled towards the aircraft before it landed. Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, also held an assessment with senior officers.
Flight-tracking services such as FlightRadar24 showed the aircraft crossing the southern Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia before heading towards Jordan and Israel. After briefly entering Jordanian airspace, it turned back and landed in Tabuk.