A flydubai passenger jet traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv was forced to divert to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after the crew issued a distress call, according to the airline and Saudi authorities. The flight, identified as FZ 1073, landed at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk, a city in northwestern Saudi Arabia near the Jordanian border.
Both the pilot and the co-pilot were taken to a hospital after landing, Saudi officials said. The nature of their injuries, and how they occurred, has not been disclosed. Flydubai described what happened only as an "incident" aboard the aircraft while it was en route, offering no further explanation.
The airline said all passengers were safe and accounted for following the emergency landing. It did not elaborate on the circumstances that prompted the diversion or on the condition of the two hospitalized crew members.
Saudi authorities confirmed they received a distress call from the flight before it touched down in Tabuk. The kingdom's statement provided no additional details about the emergency or the injuries sustained by the flight crew.
The incident left a large group of travelers stranded in Saudi Arabia, many of them Israeli citizens. Their onward travel arrangements were not immediately clear, and it was uncertain how long they would remain in Tabuk.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was holding consultations in response to the event, and his office said he was "monitoring developments." The Israeli government has not publicly characterized the incident or indicated what it believes may have happened on board.
The flight's route is notable because it links the United Arab Emirates with Israel, a corridor that opened after the two countries normalized relations in 2020 under the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords. Direct commercial service between Dubai and Tel Aviv has since become a regular feature of regional travel, carrying business passengers, tourists and families.
Wednesday's diversion is unusual because it placed an Israeli-bound flight on Saudi soil. Saudi Arabia has no formal diplomatic ties with Israel, though the kingdom has quietly permitted some overflights and has been discussed as a potential future participant in normalization efforts. The emergency landing therefore represents a rare point of contact involving Israeli passengers and Saudi authorities.
Tabuk, where the plane landed, sits in the far northwest of Saudi Arabia, close to the borders with Jordan and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. The airport, named for the late Saudi ruler Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, primarily serves domestic and regional traffic but has the capacity to handle diversions of large commercial aircraft.
Aviation experts note that diversions following distress calls are typically handled according to standardized international protocols, with air traffic controllers clearing the nearest suitable runway and emergency services placed on standby. In such cases, the priority is the safe landing of the aircraft, after which local authorities take the lead in any investigation or medical response.
The fact that both pilots required hospitalization raises questions about whether the emergency stemmed from a medical issue, a technical problem or some other event in the cockpit. Officials have not indicated which of these possibilities they are examining, and no information has been released about the condition of the aircraft itself.
Flydubai, a state-owned carrier based in Dubai, operates a fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft and has expanded rapidly since its founding in 2009. It serves a network spanning the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Asia, and has been a major beneficiary of the growth in UAE-Israel travel since normalization.
The airline's public statement was brief, confirming the flight number and the safety of passengers while declining to describe the incident in detail. Such limited disclosures are common in the early hours of an aviation event, when carriers typically defer to investigators and local authorities.
Passengers at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, where the flight had been due to arrive, were seen speaking with media representatives as news of the diversion spread. Images from the airport showed crowds gathered as families and officials sought information about those on board.
The episode comes amid a period of heightened attention to security and aviation matters across the Middle East, though there is no indication at this stage that the flydubai diversion is connected to any broader threat. Officials in Saudi Arabia and Israel have not suggested a link to any hostile act.
The Israeli prime minister's office has not announced any specific measures beyond the consultations, and it remains unclear whether Israeli officials will seek direct contact with Saudi authorities over the passengers stranded in Tabuk. Any such coordination would be sensitive given the absence of formal diplomatic relations.
The airline has not said when or how the stranded passengers will continue their journey to Tel Aviv, nor whether a replacement aircraft or crew will be dispatched to Tabuk. Travelers and their families are awaiting further guidance from the carrier.
This is a developing story, and additional details about the incident, the condition of the two crew members and the status of the passengers are expected to emerge in the coming hours.
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