#flydubai #SaudiArabia #FlightDiversion
A flydubai passenger jet on the ground after an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, where passengers received help from local authorities.
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flydubai Diversion: Saudi Arabia Refuses Israeli Planes to Pick Up Passengers

A Saudi source says Riyadh refused Israeli warplanes and an El Al jet, while the UAE opens a terrorism-related investigation.

By News Desk

Saudi Arabia – (Special Correspondent/Web Desk) – The flydubai Diversion has now turned into a diplomatic story. A Saudi source told AFP on Thursday that Saudi Arabia turned down several Israeli requests to send its own planes to pick up the stranded passengers.

The source said Israel first asked to send two or three military warplanes straight to Tabuk airport. “Turned down,” the source said.

Israel then asked to send a commercial El Al plane. That request was refused too, according to the same source.

The source also said the messages did not go directly between Riyadh and Israel. They were passed through the United Arab Emirates.

The emergency landing happened a day earlier. The flight was heading from Dubai to Tel Aviv when it was forced to land in Saudi Arabia.

Israel alleged that the co-pilot tried to crash the aircraft. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said one pilot stabbed the other and apparently tried to bring the plane down with everyone on board.

Passengers said the plane suddenly dropped. Flightradar24 data showed it lost about 17,000 feet in one minute. Passengers then rushed the cockpit, and Israel says the pilot and passengers stopped the crash.

FFC 6 September 728/90

Flydubai said all passengers were safe. Media reports said 166 of the 174 people on board were Israeli.

Saudi Arabia says it did its duty. The Saudi source said the kingdom met its “international obligation” and helped the passengers after they landed.

The source added that nationality made no difference. “We were to act the same way, regardless of the nationalities of flydubai passengers,” the source said.

The refusal also fits Riyadh’s wider position. Saudi Arabia has resisted US-backed pressure to join the Abraham Accords. It says it will not normalise ties with Israel without a clear path to a Palestinian state.

The UAE has started its own investigation. The attorney general ordered the probe, and the state news agency WAM said the team had begun its work.

The inquiry will check whether the incident was linked to any terrorist activity or intent. The UAE Foreign Ministry confirmed the investigation in a separate statement.

The ministry said UAE courts have jurisdiction because the aircraft is registered in the UAE. It added that UAE law applies to crimes on board, even outside UAE territory.

The UAE also thanked Saudi authorities for their cooperation and handling of the case.

Israeli officials called the event “an attempted terrorist attack.” Netanyahu told Fox News it was “too early” to say who was behind it, and he praised those who prevented a crash.

For now, the facts remain allegations. The investigation should show what really happened in the cockpit and why the plane dropped so sharply.

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