Israel-bound flight diverted after fight between pilots

For context, a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was unexpectedly diverted after a physical fight between the pilots, Israeli authorities informed local media.

Key points

• The Israeli air force dispatched fighter jets in response to the incident and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held urgent consultations on the incident.
• Instead, the signal was thought to be issued after an altercation between the pilot and co-pilot, local media noted citing Israeli defence authorities.
• Minutes afterwards it switched to a code employed to report a hijacking, but was afterwards turned back to the general emergency signal, the website noted.
• The incident was not believed to have been a hijacking, the Israeli prime minister's office remarked.

In practice, the Flydubai plane – which took off from Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates early on Wednesday morning – signalled an emergency code two hours into the journey, flight tracking website Flightradar24 remarked.

In practice, the incident was not believed to have been a hijacking, the Israeli prime minister's office remarked.

For context, the plane – carrying around 150 individuals, most of whom are Israeli – was due to land at Ben-Gurion Airport but instead landed at at Tabuk Airport in northeastern Saudi Arabia.

For context, the Israeli air force dispatched fighter jets in response to the incident and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held urgent consultations on the incident.

Taken together, the developments around israel-bound flight diverted after fight between pilots point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.