By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Passengers aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073 returned to Israel Wednesday after spending about eight hours in Saudi Arabia following a violent cockpit attack that Israeli officials say involved a co-pilot stabbing the captain and apparently attempting to crash the Boeing 737.
The aircraft, traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv with 174 passengers aboard, including 166 Israelis, made an emergency landing at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk after plunging nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds during the crisis.
Israeli authorities initially received conflicting information about what had happened aboard the plane, with early reports describing a fight or “brawl” between pilots. Within hours, however, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials said the incident appeared considerably more serious.
Netanyahu said the co-pilot stabbed the captain and “apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board.” Saudi authorities detained the accused co-pilot for questioning, while Israel’s Transport Ministry announced a joint investigation with the country’s defense establishment.
The motive had not been conclusively established Wednesday. Flydubai said the underlying reasons for the altercation remained unknown and urged against premature speculation while authorities investigate.
An Israeli official nevertheless told The Jerusalem Post that “a major disaster was narrowly averted” when passengers and other flight personnel entered the cockpit and subdued the alleged attacker.
“The growing assessment among the Israeli security establishment, including the IDF, Mossad, and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), is that the incident was intended as an act of terror,” the newspaper reported.
Flight FZ1073 departed Dubai International Airport bound for Ben Gurion International Airport before the emergency unfolded approximately two and a half hours into the flight.
Flight-tracking data showed the aircraft suddenly losing almost 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds before transmitting its first emergency signal. The plane initially broadcast transponder code 7700, indicating a general emergency, and then changed to code 7500, the international signal for unlawful interference with an aircraft. It later returned to 7700.
Israeli fighter jets were scrambled as authorities assessed whether the plane had been hijacked or presented a threat to Israel.
Passenger accounts described screaming from the cockpit and a sudden, severe descent.
Fox News reported passenger accounts saying the crisis began when “the copilot stabbed the captain,” with eyewitnesses describing “screaming, a loss of power, and blood onboard” as the aircraft rapidly lost altitude.
According to later accounts, the wounded captain managed to release the cockpit door, allowing passengers and another crew member to enter while the aircraft was diving.
One passenger told Agence France-Presse, “The co-pilot tried to murder the pilot and basically carry out a suicide attack on the plane.”
Passengers described how several people moved toward the cockpit, overpowered the alleged attacker and prevented him from continuing to interfere with the aircraft.
Some of those aboard described the outcome as a “great miracle,” saying qualified pilots traveling as passengers were available to take control after the original cockpit crew was injured.
Reuters later reported that a second set of pilots was aboard the flight to relieve the original crew and ultimately landed the aircraft safely in Saudi Arabia. Both original pilots were injured and hospitalized, while all passengers escaped physical injury.
Netanyahu said a passenger told him that passengers working with a crew member forced their way into the cockpit after the aircraft entered a dive.
According to the prime minister, “together they overpowered the pilot who had carried out the stabbing while he was attempting to sabotage the aircraft’s systems.”
Another crew member then “entered the cockpit and managed to stabilize the aircraft,” Netanyahu said in recounting the incident.
In a separate video statement, Netanyahu said that “one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot” while the flight was approaching Israel and that the alleged attacker “apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz characterized the episode as a “jihadist terrorist attack” that was “thwarted only thanks to the heroism of a number of Israeli passengers,” according to reporting on the Israeli security response.
That description represents the Israeli defense minister’s assessment. Flydubai has not publicly assigned a motive, and the airline said the cause of the cockpit altercation remained subject to formal investigation.
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon also praised those aboard.
“Israeli passengers on today’s flight from Dubai showed extraordinary determination and resourcefulness, helping prevent a major disaster,” Danon said.
Reports about the pilots’ nationalities varied throughout Wednesday. Israeli media identified them at different points as Omani, Emirati, Russian or Ukrainian. An Israeli official said the accused co-pilot was an Omani national, but authorities had not publicly resolved all conflicting reports concerning the flight crew.
The emergency landing created an additional diplomatic complication because Saudi Arabia and Israel do not maintain formal diplomatic relations.
After landing in Tabuk, many passengers initially resisted boarding a replacement Flydubai aircraft sent to return them to Israel. The Jerusalem Post reported that passengers cited fears because “neither the aircraft nor the pilot were Israeli.”
Israeli officials considered alternatives, including sending an Israeli military aircraft or chartered civilian plane to Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia declined an Israeli request to allow military aircraft to enter the kingdom to retrieve the passengers, according to security sources. Israeli officials consequently worked with Saudi and Emirati authorities on another arrangement.
The passengers ultimately boarded the Flydubai replacement aircraft after Israeli security agencies reviewed the replacement crew, and they arrived back in Israel Wednesday evening.
Netanyahu had convened an emergency security consultation while the passengers remained in Saudi Arabia.
“The incident is under control, and all measures are currently being deployed in order to return the Israeli passengers safely to Israel,” the Prime Minister’s Office said after the meeting.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir canceled a planned trip to the United States, where he had been scheduled to meet Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine and U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Bradley Cooper, in order to deal with the developing situation.
Israeli officials also began reviewing security procedures for flights entering the country.
Netanyahu said Israel would tighten checks involving crews aboard Israeli and foreign airlines flying into the country, while the Transport Ministry said the episode would be investigated jointly with defense authorities.
The incident unfolded against the backdrop of close aviation ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates established after the two countries normalized diplomatic relations in 2020. Flydubai operates regular service between Dubai and Tel Aviv.
Saudi Arabia, despite lacking diplomatic relations with Israel, has previously permitted emergency landings involving Israeli travelers. A Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv landed in Riyadh in September 2025 because of a medical emergency.
Wednesday’s episode was substantially different because of the violence inside the cockpit and the aircraft’s rapid loss of altitude.
Early accounts described a physical confrontation between pilots, and a spokesperson for Netanyahu initially said the incident was not believed to be a hijacking. As passenger testimony, cockpit details and flight data became available, Israeli officials increasingly described the episode as an apparent deliberate attempt to bring down the aircraft.
The allegation that the incident constituted terrorism remains under investigation.
What has been established by the airline and authorities is that a violent cockpit altercation occurred, both pilots suffered injuries, the aircraft entered an extreme descent and transmitted emergency signals before landing safely in Saudi Arabia.
Netanyahu said Saudi authorities were questioning the detained co-pilot, while Israeli agencies continued investigating the motive and circumstances surrounding the attack.
All 174 passengers survived.
Original article
Comments