Flydubai Plane Sends Hijack Alert After Fight Between Pilots

Reform.news Editorial Team · 30 September 2026, 10:54

https://reform.news/en/flydubai-plane-sends-hijack-alert-after-fight-between-pilots/

A flydubai aircraft operating a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv sent a hijack alert on September 30. It later emerged that the alert was triggered by a fight between the Russian and Ukrainian pilots.

There were 174 passengers on board, including 27 children. At around 9 a.m., while the aircraft was in Jordanian airspace, it sent an emergency signal, followed by a hijack alert. Israel scrambled fighter jets. At 9:30 a.m., contact with the aircraft was lost, but it reappeared on flight-tracking systems a few minutes later.

The plane changed course and landed safely at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia.

According to Israel’s Channel 12, the incident was caused by a fight between the Ukrainian and Russian pilots.