A Flydubai aircraft traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, Israel, was forced to land in Saudi Arabia after an “incident,” the airline said.
Flight FZ 1073 “experienced an incident while en route. The aircraft has landed safely in Tabuk Airport, and all passengers are safe and accounted for,” Flydubai’s spokesperson said in a statement.
Amit Seagel from Channel 12 said: Following situation assessments and passenger testimonies, Israel is treating the incident as a full-fledged terrorist attack. It appears that the co-pilot repeatedly stabbed the captain. Once the attack began, several crew members and passengers broke through the cockpit door and subdued the attacker.
According to one senior official, the co-pilot is currently being questioned, and indications are mounting that he intended to take control of the plane and crash it with the passengers on board.
Israel’s Kan public broadcaster and Channel 12 reported that the Israeli military had scrambled fighter jets after fears of a possible hijacking. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the premier had held consultations on the matter and was “monitoring developments”.
“The incident is under control, and all measures are currently being deployed in order to return the Israeli passengers safely to Israel,” a statement said.
Israeli media reported that the passengers on board had stepped in to separate the pilots during their altercation, publishing photos of a passenger with a bloodied T-shirt.
Channel 12 reported that authorities were investigating whether or not one of the pilots had attempted a possible suicide by trying to crash the plane, with the other pilot apparently intervening to prevent the crash.
Other reports said that passengers reported cockpit screams, blood, and that one pilot stabbed the other with a knife.
Crew and passengers forced the door and subdued the attacker. Off-duty pilots helped land it safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Israeli officials treat it as a terror attack: the co-pilot (reports say Omani) repeatedly stabbed the captain, possibly intending to crash the plane. The suspect is under interrogation.
נוסעת בטיסת פליי דובאי: ״הישראלים ניטרלו את דוקר הטייס, צעקתי שמע ישראל כי חשבתי שלא נצא מפה״ pic.twitter.com/uNemz9Um6R
— זמן אמת (@zmanemet308) September 30, 2026
One passenger, Miriam, reportedly on board the aircraft, describes hearing screams and seeing blood in the cockpit after a pilot was stabbed. She says Israelis and crew neutralized the attacker; a doctor and nurse treated the pilot; she shouted Shema Yisrael, fearing they wouldn’t survive; and the plane made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
According to data from the Flightradar website, the aircraft suddenly lost altitude during the flight, dropping from nearly 34,000 feet at 05:21 GMT to less than 17,000 feet at 05:22 GMT.
The incident comes just days after the Emirati president hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.
It appeared to be the first time Abu Dhabi acknowledged a meeting between Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu’s office also confirmed the trip, saying the visit “focused on strengthening relations between the two countries and on regional challenges” amid delicate US-backed diplomacy over the war with Iran.
- Via: Agence France-Presse
- This is a developing story…
