A commercial plane travelling from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to Israel has been forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, after an apparent brawl between its pilots prompted distress signals that briefly raised fears of an attempted hijacking.

The flydubai flight was over Jordan when it diverted to Saudi Arabia, transmitting three emergency signals, one of which indicated a possible unlawful interference.

The plane dipped dramatically during the reported fight, descending about 16,000ft in just two minutes.

Israeli officials scrambled fighter jets, fearful of a possible hijacking attempt on a plane containing dozens of Israelis, and the plane landed at Tabuk airport in north-western Saudi Arabia.

A passenger told the Jerusalem Post that one pilot stabbed another and tried to force him out of the cockpit, prompting other Israelis to rush into the cockpit and subdue the attacker as the plane began to plunge.

It was not immediately possible to verify those reports. Pictures of a passenger with blood on their shirt were published by Israeli media.

A spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister’s office initially said that the flight diversion was not because of a hijack attempt; authorities later said they were investigating.

Israeli media quoted anonymous officials saying they were looking into whether one of the pilots had tried to crash the plane in an apparent attempted suicide before being stopped by members of the flight crew. The officials also said they were considering the possibility that the incident was an attempt to attack Israelis.

The head of the Israeli military, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, postponed his planned visit to the US next week over the incident, where he was meant to have a meeting with US joint chiefs of staff and the head of US Central Command.

All passengers were safe, while the captain and the co-pilot were taken to hospital for treatment, a statement by a Saudi aviation authority said. The Israeli air force was waiting for permission from Saudi Arabia to fly the stranded passengers back to Israel.

The circumstances of the brawl between the pilots were unclear, with passengers recounting confusing moments and blood being spilt.

Yasmin Abu Kaiss, whose daughter was on the flight, told Reuters her daughter said she had heard screaming and a man with a knife had put a pilot on the floor, and that there was blood everywhere.

The incident came just days after the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, warned there were indications an attack would be carried out during Israel’s October elections. The Israeli military, quoted by Israeli media, said it had no intelligence that an attack was being planned on Israel.

Israel experienced a series of hijackings and attacks on planes by Palestinian militants in the 1960s and 1970s, but has not had anything similar in decades. The country maintains some of the strictest airport security procedures in the world, including security checks before passengers board Israel-bound flights.

Flights between Dubai and Israel started after the countries normalised ties in 2020. Israel does not have diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, but in 2025 landed a plane in Riyadh because of a medical emergency.

Flydubai confirmed that flight FZ 1073 en route to Ben Gurion experienced an incident and landed safely in Tabuk on Wednesday. “Our teams are working closely with the relevant authorities,” the carrier said. “Further updates will be issued as additional confirmed details become available.”

Israeli media reported that a later flydubai flight heading to Tel Aviv turned around in mid-air back towards Dubai after the incident.