Pilots Reportedly Involved in Fight on flydubai Aircraft That Squawked 7500
A flydubai Boeing 737 MAX 8 operating flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv diverted to Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia following an incident during the flight. Flydubai confirmed that an “incident” had occurred onboard, adding that all passengers were safe and that the airline was cooperating with the relevant authorities.
During the flight, the aircraft reportedly first squawked 7700, the general emergency code, followed by 7500, which indicates unlawful interference or a possible hijacking, before switching back to 7700. The aircraft also descended rapidly from around 34,000 feet to approximately 14,000–15,000 feet. Flightradar24 data showed that the rate of descent reached around 30,000 feet per minute at one point.
According to unconfirmed reports in Israeli media, the incident may have involved a physical altercation between the two pilots in the cockpit. One pilot was reportedly Russian and the other Ukrainian, while some reports claimed that passengers intervened in the cockpit and restrained one of the pilots.
Following the incident, the aircraft left its planned route to Tel Aviv and diverted to Tabuk, where it landed safely. An official investigation is ongoing, and details surrounding how the reported altercation began and the extent to which control of the aircraft may have been affected have not yet been confirmed.
