UAE airline carrying settlers lands in Saudi Arabia after pilots’ altercation creates hijacking scare

A United Arab Emirates (UAE) Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, carrying 150 passengers, including 100 settlers, has made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after an altercation between the pilots triggered a hijacking code.

Flight FZ1073 was flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday when it transmitted the emergency code 7700 before briefly switching to 7500, the internationally recognized code for unlawful interference or a possible hijacking.

The alert prompted Israeli authorities to scramble fighter jets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holding an emergency security session, and closing the airspace over the occupied territories.

The aircraft subsequently diverted to Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia, where it eventually landed safely.

Israeli officials later determined that the emergency signal had been triggered by a dispute between the two pilots.

Reports described the confrontation as a violent altercation in the cockpit, with the aircraft changing course and the emergency code being activated during the incident.

The UAE and Israel have maintained formal diplomatic relations since September 15, 2020, when they signed the so-called Abraham Accords.

The relationship has expanded into trade, investment, tourism, technology and transport, with the UAE’s Foreign Ministry reporting that bilateral merchandise trade reached $3.209 billion in 2025, despite the genocide in Gaza.

The same official figures show that cumulative merchandise trade between the UAE and Israel reached about $14.53 billion between September 2020 and May 2026, while passenger traffic between the two reached approximately 1.53 million in 2025.

During the US-Israeli aggression against Iran, Israel also deployed an Iron Dome air-defense battery and dozens of troops to the UAE to help protect the US, and Israeli assets from Iranian missile and drone attacks,

The political relationship was on display again on Sunday, when Netanyahu traveled to Abu Dhabi and met UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The UAE’s official Emirates News Agency said the two leaders discussed “bilateral relations and ways to strengthen and develop them.”

The visit came only days after Netanyahu’s September 24 address to the United Nations General Assembly, during which 77 delegations walked out of the hall.

The UAE delegation, however, was among those that remained in the chamber during Netanyahu’s address.

Netanyahu begs UAE leader to publicly deny warning of Al-Aqsa Flood operation: Report

Netanyahu asked the UAE to publicly reject reports that Abu Dhabi had warned the Zionist regime in advance of the Palestinian resistance’s historic Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on 7 October 2023.

The latest Netanyahu visit has drawn additional attention because it followed reports that Sheikh Mohamed had warned Netanyahu before October 7, 2023 about the possibility of a major operation by the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.

Netanyahu’s office has rejected the report as an “absolute lie,” insisting that the prime minister did not speak with bin Zayed during the period in question and received no warning from him.

The UAE Foreign Ministry has also refused to comment on what it described as “speculation regarding conversations” between the two sides’ leaders.

At the same time, the UAE has stressed that it maintains “open and direct lines of communication” with Israel and, when necessary, “all relevant intelligence has been and continues to be communicated” between them.

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