FlyDubai halted route after pilots fought in cockpit
Two Israeli airlines — Israir and Arkia — received special permission on Friday to land at Dubai International Airport and begin transporting thousands of Israeli travelers back to Tel Aviv, The New York Times reported. The clearance came after FlyDubai suspended its only direct service between the two cities earlier this week following a midair incident aboard one of its Boeing 737 aircraft.
Israel’s flag carrier, El Al, had also been expected to ferry passengers, but the United Arab Emirates revoked El Al’s permission to land at the Dubai airport, according to The Jerusalem Post. The decision left Israir and Arkia as the only Israeli carriers cleared to run the evacuation.
FlyDubai suspended the route on Wednesday after a fight broke out in the cockpit between the two pilots of a Boeing 737 MAX 2, designated Flight 1073. The aircraft made a sudden U-turn near the border with Jordan, plunged 17,000 feet in under a minute and issued a hijacking alert before diverting for an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
One of the pilots allegedly stabbed the other, prompting a struggle that drew passengers into the cockpit to subdue the attacker. The Israeli government said it believes the incident was an attempted terror attack.
FlyDubai had been the only airline flying between Tel Aviv and Dubai. Israeli carriers had stopped flying to the United Arab Emirates amid the Iran war, leaving FlyDubai as the lone carrier on the route.