An El Al pilot on a flight that took off from Ben Gurion Airport to Prague on Sunday evening turned the plane around over the city of Izmir, Turkey, after an hour and a half and returned to Israel.

This was due to a technical malfunction which was discovered in the aircraft.

El Al said that "Flight 2523 from Tel Aviv to Prague is returning to Ben Gurion Airport due to a technical malfunction."

"We are prepared to treat the passengers and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and stress that flight safety is our top priority," added the airline.