A commercial flight between Dubai and Tel Aviv on September 30 narrowly escaped a fatal crash after what appears to be a hijacking attempt.
The Boeing 737 Max 8 plane carrying 174 passengers took off from Dubai International (DXB) at 6:50 a.m. local time and had been in the air for approximately two hours when a fight between the two pilots in the cockpit broke out and caused the plane to plunge more than 17,000 feet in the air in two minutes.
Images from the attack and descriptions from passengers aboard the plane revealed that a co-pilot likely attempted to stab the captain as several passengers on the plane rushed to the front to subdue him. Two off-duty pilots traveling as passengers on the flight were able to safely land the flight at Tabuk Airport (TUU) in northwestern Saudi Arabia without any casualties to anyone aside from the two cockpit pilots.
Cockpit stabbing on Flydubai flight to Tel Aviv sets off hijacking code
The crew on FZ1073 sent both general emergency and hijacking codes to ground staff while Flydubai dispatched emergency teams and two replacement aircraft to get passengers back to Tel Aviv from a country that is very rarely visited by Israelis due to the lack of formal diplomatic ties between the two nations. Local news outlets reported that 166 of the 174 passengers aboard were Israelis while the two pilots were Omani and Emirati nationals.
A Flydubai statement said that the flight was “successfully secured by on-duty Flydubai crew travelling on the flight” while “the underlying reasons and motives behind this event are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation.”
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The pilot who stabbed the captain has reportedly been arrested and brought in for questioning by Saudi authorities.
Zvika Manes, one of the passengers traveling home to Israel, described hearing “shouting” and “screams” to Israeli news outlet Calcalist and said he also ended up “covered in blood” after entering the cockpit to help subdue the attacker.
Other witnesses also reported seeing a knife in the hands of the co-pilot.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu classified the attack as an attempt by one of the pilots to crash the plane while Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon praised the “heroic” pilot who “showed extraordinary determination and resourcefulness, helping prevent a major disaster.”
Footage taken by a passenger aboard the flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv after the plane took a rapid plunge. pic.twitter.com/O3vd5644pL
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) September 30, 2026
“We urge all parties to refrain from premature speculation”: Flydubai
The attack came just under a month before Israel’s presidential election that has been dominated by issues around national security and the global response to the war in Gaza. Netanyahu’s main political opponents put out statements that his classification did not resemble what actually occurred onboard and accused the current Israeli leader of using the incident to try to gain “political capital.”
“We urge all parties to refrain from premature speculation while authorities gather the facts,” Flydubai said in a further statement.
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The replacement plane registered as A6-FKR left Saudi Arabia at 5:20 p.m. with all of the passengers on the original flight aboard.
Lives updates on Flight FZ1073 can be tracked on BBC as more details become known.
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