A commercial plane traveling from Dubai to Israel was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, raising concerns about a possible hijacking and prompting Israel to scramble warplanes.

Israeli media, citing security officials, said the incident stemmed from a feud between the plane’s two pilots in the cockpit mid-air.

Passengers on the plane told Israel’s Channel 12 that they heard shouts from passengers toward the front of the plane who heard the altercation between the pilots, and the plane dipped steeply before landing in Saudi Arabia. 

The FlyDubai plane transmitted an emergency alert shortly after takeoff, according to publicly available flight tracking information.

The plane initially transmitted squawk code 7700, indicating a general emergency, before switching to 7500, which signals unlawful interference, and later reverting to the initial code, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz held an urgent meeting to discuss the situation, while Israeli airspace was also temporarily closed and later reopened.

A regional official briefed on the incident said a fight broke out in the cockpit and apparently involved pilots, but added it wasn’t immediately clear what had caused the dispute.

According to Israel’s i24NEWS, which reported on the ‘violent’ altercation, the pilot was Russian and the co-pilot was Ukrainian.

The Flydubai aircraft, which took off from Dubai, abruptly turned around while flying over Jordan after a suspected security incident was reported onboard

The television channel said it was currently being examined whether a stabbing incident occurred between the pilots.

‘We were either going to crash or be murdered. It was like a terrorist attack in mid-air,’ one passenger said.

The channel reported that authorities are allegedly investigating whether the pilot attempted to crash the plane, which the co-pilot and passengers prevented.

Another passenger on the Boeing 737 MAX told Israel’s Channel 12: ‘We heard screams on the plane. Then they opened the cockpit and we saw blood, and someone had stabbed the pilot with a pocketknife.’

She described how the Israeli passengers helped restrain an attacker along with members of the crew. ‘We prayed, “Shema Yisrael,”‘ she said.

‘There were also moments when we thought we weren’t going to make it out alive.’

Another woman, identifying herself as noam, told the network in a call: ‘Screams began on the plane… by passengers who realised what was happening. 

‘We understand that one of the pilots was stabbed and seriously wounded, and they lost control of the plane. It started to dive quickly. It was very scary.’

A second official confirmed that Israel had scrambled warplanes, fearing a hijacking of a plane carrying dozens of its citizens. 

The plane landed in Tabuk, a civilian and military base in the kingdom, with 180 passengers onboard. 

Netanyahu has warned in recent days of unspecified, escalated security threats.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the incident was still under investigation.

Israel has not experienced a hijacking in decades but maintains some of the strictest airport security in the world. 

Commercial flight have flown between Israel and the United Arab Emirates since the countries normalised ties in 2020.

A FlyDubai spokesperson told the Daily Mail: ‘FlyDubai can confirm that flight FZ 1073 operating from Dubai International (DXB) to Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV) on September 30 experienced an incident while en route. 

‘The aircraft has landed safely in Tabuk Airport (TUU) and all passengers are safe and accounted for. 

‘The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew remain our highest priority.

‘Our teams are working closely with the relevant authorities. Further updates will be issued as additional confirmed details become available.’

This is a breaking news story. More to follow.