Flydubai Plane Incident is Not Hijacking.. Tabuk Airport Reveals Injuries to Pilots

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A spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed rumors regarding an incident involving a Fly Dubai aircraft, which was said to have experienced a hijacking.

The spokesperson confirmed today, Wednesday, that the incident involving the Fly Dubai plane heading to Tel Aviv is not a hijacking, according to Reuters.

He also clarified that everything is under control, and all measures are being taken to safely return the Israeli passengers.

For its part, Fly Dubai clarified that flight 1073, which was en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv, encountered an incident during its flight and landed in Tabuk. The company confirmed in a statement that all passengers are fine, adding that further updates will be issued when more confirmed details are available.

On its part, Tabuk Airport announced that it received a distress call from the aircraft to make an emergency landing at 8:44 AM today. It added that it declared a state of emergency and readiness upon receiving the distress call.

It also indicated that the captain of the Fly Dubai aircraft and his assistant were injured in the flight that made an emergency landing. Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk clarified that the Fly Dubai aircraft landed at the airport (6:45 GMT), and it was found that both the captain and the co-pilot were injured, and they were transferred to the hospital while providing necessary care to the passengers and coordinating with the airline to secure a replacement aircraft.

This came after several Israeli media outlets reported a notification "about a security incident on board an aircraft heading from Dubai to Tel Aviv, as the aircraft activated the distress call and emergency code." Israeli officials confirmed that a "violent altercation" occurred between the pilots, according to what CNN reported.

This Israeli media uproar regarding the incident came at a sensitive time, as Netanyahu warned yesterday of the risk of attacks on his country before the parliamentary elections scheduled for next month. He stated in a recorded message at Tel Nof Air Base: "We have indicators of a potential attack on us before the elections."

It is noteworthy that the parliamentary elections will be held in Israel on October 27, and based on the results, the new Knesset (parliament) will be formed, after which the leader of the party that wins the most seats will be tasked with forming a new government.

Currently, according to the latest opinion polls, the current ruling coalition, led by the "Likud" party under Netanyahu, and the united opposition are very close in results. However, neither side has a majority of 61 seats out of 120 in the Knesset necessary to form a government coalition.