Flight to Tel Aviv makes emergency landing after mid-air alert and reported pilot altercation

London: A commercial aircraft flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv has made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after issuing an alert that sparked fears of an imminent threat to hundreds of passengers and crew.

The flight, flydubai FZ1073, landed safely amid a flurry of online speculation about the cause of the problem – including reports of an altercation between the pilots.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called urgent meetings to monitor the emergency after the aircraft issued a 7700 “squawk” message that suggested it was the subject of unlawful interference.

Israeli Air Force fighter jets were scrambled to head towards the aircraft before its landing.

Amid growing concern about the threat, Israeli government officials told The Times of Israel and other media that it was not a hijacking.

The Israeli Defence Forces chief of staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, held an assessment of the incident with senior officers, The Times of Israel reported.

Flight tracking sites such as FlightRadar24 showed the aircraft initially flew over the southern part of the Persian Gulf before crossing over Saudi Arabia and heading towards Jordan and Israel.

After crossing briefly into Jordanian airspace, it turned back to land at Tabuk, a city in the far west of Saudi Arabia.

The Boeing 737 MAX was reported to be carrying about 180 passengers.

The plane first issued a 7700 “squawk” code to signal an international emergency, before changing this to a 7500 code to signal a hijacking or unlawful interference, according to reports.

“The incident was later understood not to have been a hijacking, according to Israeli officials and defence sources, with the emergency apparently stemming from the altercation between the pilots aboard the aircraft,” The Jerusalem Post reported.

The Israeli media said authorities were planning to question the crew and inspect the aircraft as part of an investigation into the scare.

The airline, which is owned by the investment arm of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, is expected to send another aircraft to the Saudi airport to transfer the passengers to Tel Aviv.