A commercial plane traveling from Dubai to Israel is diverted to Saudi Arabia after a distress call

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A commercial plane traveling from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to Israel was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, briefly raising concerns about a possible hijacking and prompting Israel to scramble warplanes.

Israeli media, citing security officials, said the incident stemmed from a feud between the plane’s two pilots, and everyone on board was safe. The plane landed in Tabuk, a civilian and military base in the kingdom.

The FlyDubai plane transmitted an emergency alert shortly after takeoff, according to publicly available flight tracking information.

A regional official briefed on the incident said a fight broke out in the cockpit and apparently involved pilots. It wasn’t immediately clear what had caused the fight, the official said.

A second 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.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the incident was still under investigation.

Israel has not experienced a hijacking in decades but maintains some of the strictest airport security in the world. Commercial flight have flown between Israel and the United Arab Emirates since the countries normalized ties in 2020.

Magdy reported from Cairo and Metz from Jerusalem.