Pilots on UAE-Israel flight hospitalised after cockpit brawl forces emergency landing

A commercial plane traveling from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to Israel was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, briefly raising concerns about a possible hijacking and prompting Israel to scramble warplanes. The Jerusalem Post reported that the pilot tried to hijack the flight, stabbing his co-pilot before those on board helped to subdue him. The plane landed in Tabuk, a civilian and military base in the kingdom. The FlyDubai plane transmitted an emergency alert shortly after takeoff, according to publicly available flight tracking information. WatchIran sees air, land travel chaos as US sanctions bite A regional official briefed on the incident said a fight broke out in the cockpit and apparently involved pilots. It wasn’t immediately clear what had caused the fight, the official said. A second official confirmed that Israel had scrambled warplanes, fearing a hijacking of a plane carrying dozens of its citizens. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned in recent days of unspecified, escalated security threats. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the incident was still under investigation. Netanyahu’s office later s...