‘Violent incident’ between pilots sparked flight to Israel diversion and emergency broadcast, sources say

By Tal Shalev, Jeremy Diamond, CNN

(CNN) — A “violent” altercation between two pilots caused a FlyDubai aircraft traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv to divert to Saudi Arabia, sources have told CNN.

The aircraft dropped 17,400 feet in altitude – from 34,000 to around 16,600 feet – over just two minutes at around 1:20 a.m. ET, flight tracking data reviewed by CNN shows. An emergency signal was then sent from the aircraft 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 also scrambled after the emergency message was sent, an IDF 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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