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Flydubai Plane Declares Emergency, Turns Back Over Saudi Arabia En Route to Tel Aviv
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News18•30-09-2026, 12:14
Flydubai Plane Declares Emergency, Turns Back Over Saudi Arabia En Route to Tel Aviv
- •A flydubai Boeing 737 MAX from Dubai to Tel Aviv declared an emergency and turned around over northern Saudi Arabia.
- •Flight-tracking data from Flightradar24 showed the aircraft squawking 7700, the general emergency code.
- •The plane experienced a sudden drop in altitude and fluctuating ground speed before changing direction.
- •After turning around, the aircraft flew unusually low, at approximately 15,000 feet.
- •Verification is underway to determine if the incident was security-related or technical, amid heightened regional aviation sensitivity.
Key Questions Answered
The flydubai Boeing 737 MAX declared an emergency and turned around over northern Saudi Arabia while en route to Tel Aviv. Flight-tracking data showed the aircraft experienced a sudden drop in altitude and fluctuating ground speed before changing direction.
The aircraft squawked 7700, which is the general emergency code used by aircraft to signal an emergency. Some flight trackers also indicated that the plane may have briefly switched to 7500, the transponder code for a hijacking, though this was not confirmed.
After turning around over Saudi Arabia, tracking data showed the aircraft was flying unusually low, at an altitude of around 15,000 feet.
