After hours of silence, flydubai says motive behind incident on Israel-bound plane still being probed

After hours of silence, Emirati carrier flydubai confirms that an “altercation occurred in the flight deck” on this morning’s flight that took off from Dubai International Airport to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, and had to be diverted to Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia.

“The aircraft was successfully secured by on-duty flydubai crew traveling on the flight, who diverted and landed the aircraft safely at Tabuk Airport,” says a flydubai spokesperson. “At this early stage, the underlying reasons and motives behind this event are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation.”

“We urge all parties to refrain from premature speculation while authorities gather the facts,” the flydubai spokesperson adds.

Flydubai reiterates that “all passengers and crew are safe and accounted for.”

“We have deployed two replacement aircraft to Tabuk to relieve the passengers and crew,” the flydubai spokesperson says. “This incident has no impact on other scheduled operations across the flydubai network.”