‘Violent incident’ between pilots sparks emergency diversion of Israel-bound flight, sources say
By Tal Shalev, Jeremy Diamond, CNN
(CNN) — A “violent incident” between two pilots caused a FlyDubai aircraft traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv to divert to Saudi Arabia, sources have told CNN.
The aircraft descended 17,400 feet – from 34,000 to around 16,600 feet – over northwestern Saudi Arabia in just over two minutes at around 1:20 a.m. ET, flight tracking data reviewed by CNN shows. The aircraft then transmitted an emergency signal at 1:32 a.m. ET.
An Israeli official said the incident was not a hijacking, adding that they understood it to be an internal personnel incident onboard.
The incident prompted Israel’s prime minister and defense minister to hold a security consultation. Israeli fighter jets were scrambled after the emergency signal was sent, an Israeli military spokesperson told CNN
The flight is expected to land in Saudi Arabia shortly.
CNN has sought comment from FlyDubai.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
The-CNN-Wire
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