New Delhi: A Flydubai jet carrying around 180 Israeli passengers was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after transmitting emergency signals, including a code associated with a possible hijacking, shortly after departing Dubai for Tel Aviv, according to a report.
NDTV reported that flight-tracking data showed that the Boeing 737 MAX 8, operating as flight FZ1073 from Dubai International Airport to Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, first squawked code 7700, indicating a general emergency.
The aircraft later switched to code 7500, an internationally recognised signal for unlawful interference, including a possible hijacking, it added.
The alerts prompted Israel to scramble military aircraft amid fears that the flight could have been hijacked.
The plane subsequently diverted and landed safely in Tabuk, a city that hosts both civilian and military aviation facilities in northwestern Saudi Arabia, according to the report.
According to the report, the incident was caused by a violent altercation involving the flight’s pilots rather than a hijacking.
All passengers and crew were reported safe, it said.
Meanwhile, reports claim that hijack code may have been activated during the altercation.
One pilot allegedly stabbed another with a folding knife, they said adding that passengers and crew members intervened to subdue the attacker before the aircraft made an emergency landing.
A passenger said that shouting could be heard from the cockpit and that blood was visible when the cockpit door was opened, according to the report. She further stated that passengers feared for their lives before helping crew members contain the situation.
In addition, the aircraft descended about 17,400 feet in roughly two minutes before the first emergency signal was transmitted, the report said.
Additionally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he was monitoring the situation and added that the incident was under control and efforts were underway to ensure the passengers’ safe return to Israel.
(IANS)
