Key Points
- A flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, FZ1073, diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday, Sept. 30, after what the airline calls an altercation on the flight deck.
- Flight tracking data showed the Boeing 737 drop about 14,000 feet in under 30 seconds before it landed safely, with all passengers and crew accounted for.
- Israeli leaders say a co-pilot stabbed the captain and tried to crash the plane, but flydubai says the motives are unknown and investigators have not confirmed a cause.
- flydubai has suspended its Israel flights while the investigation continues, and Israel says it will tighten security checks on pilots flying into the country.
A routine morning flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv turned into one of the most alarming aviation security scares in the region in years. flydubai flight FZ1073 diverted to Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, Sept. 30, after a violent incident in the cockpit, and the airline has now suspended all of its flights to and from Israel while investigators work out what happened.
Almost everything beyond the basic facts is still contested. The airline describes an “altercation” with motives unknown. Israeli officials describe a stabbing and an attempt to bring the plane down. Neither account has been confirmed by an official investigation.
What flydubai has confirmed
In a series of statements on its newsroom, flydubai said an altercation occurred on the flight deck of FZ1073 from Dubai International to Ben Gurion International. The aircraft was secured by flydubai crew members who were travelling on the flight, and they diverted and landed it safely at Tabuk Airport. All passengers and crew, the airline said, are safe and accounted for.
The carrier sent two replacement aircraft to Tabuk. It stressed that “the underlying reasons and motives behind this event are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation,” and urged everyone to avoid premature speculation. In a third statement, flydubai said flights to and from Israel would be suspended, in coordination with the authorities, while the investigation continues.
The UAE’s aviation regulator, the General Civil Aviation Authority, said the flight “experienced a security incident that was brought under control,” according to Reuters, and has opened an investigation. Saudi Arabia’s National Transport Safety Center said it has also launched an inquiry into the emergency landing, Anadolu Agency reported.
What the flight data shows
A Flightradar24 playback showed the jet cruising at 34,000 feet over Saudi Arabia when it dropped more than 14,000 feet in about 30 seconds, Reuters reported. Based on Al Jazeera’s timeline of Flightradar24 data and Saudi airport statements, all times GMT and approximate:
- 03:05: FZ1073 takes off from Dubai.
- 05:21: A deep descent begins, followed by a sharp climb and a second steep descent.
- About 05:28 to 05:31: The transponder shows code 7700, a general emergency, near the Saudi-Jordanian border.
- Minutes later: The code changes to 7500, which signals unlawful interference. The jet briefly enters Jordanian airspace, then turns back toward Saudi Arabia.
- 05:44: Air traffic control in Tabuk receives a distress call requesting an emergency landing (8:44 a.m. local time).
- 06:45: The aircraft lands at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk.
Tabuk airport said the passengers left on a replacement aircraft at 5:40 p.m. local time. The passengers, most of them Israeli, landed at Ben Gurion Airport at about 15:34 GMT, more than 10 hours after the incident.
What Israeli officials claim
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said one of the pilots stabbed the other and then tried to crash the plane, and that passengers and crew entered the cockpit and overpowered the co-pilot. He said 174 people were on board. Defence Minister Israel Katz said preliminary information pointed to an intent to crash the aircraft and called it an “attempted jihadist terror attack.”
These are the Israeli government’s characterizations. Reuters reported that Israeli officials themselves said the motive remained under investigation. An Israeli official who spoke anonymously identified the co-pilot as an Omani national; Oman had no immediate comment, and that identification has not been independently confirmed.
Netanyahu’s office named the injured captain as Smit Machchhar, an Indian national. India’s embassy in Saudi Arabia said he was being treated in a Tabuk hospital and was in stable condition. Tabuk airport said both pilots had been hospitalised with injuries. Israel’s ambulance service said a 51-year-old man was taken to an Israeli hospital with upper-body injuries in a mild condition.
Passengers described a terrifying few minutes. “It was awful, crazy, and we thank God that we survived it,” passenger Lital Shachaf told Reuters on arrival in Israel.
Politics and security fallout
US President Donald Trump said he spoke at length with Netanyahu and relayed his account to reporters, while adding: “I don’t know if it’s true, but that’s the story that I got from Bibi.”
At home, the incident landed weeks before Israel’s Oct. 27 election and a day after Netanyahu warned that Israel’s enemies could attempt attacks before the vote. Opposition leader Yair Lapid, who received a security briefing from Netanyahu that night, rejected attempts to link the two. “Nothing even resembling this morning’s plane incident appeared in the security briefing with the prime minister last night,” he wrote on X, according to Al Jazeera.
Netanyahu spokesperson Doron Spielman told Reuters that Israel will now seek to know the identity of every pilot flying into the country and run some form of security check. Netanyahu has also ordered tighter security on both Israeli and foreign carriers, Reuters said.
Israel also suspended flydubai flights to Ben Gurion Airport for six days, a period that could be extended depending on the investigation, Ynet reported. Transport Minister Miri Regev argued that assigning an Omani pilot to the route breached the Israel-UAE aviation agreement, according to the outlet. flydubai has not given an end date for its own suspension.
Why this route matters
flydubai flies daily between Dubai and Tel Aviv, a route that grew popular with Israeli travellers after Israel and the UAE normalized ties under the 2020 Abraham Accords. The flight path normally crosses Saudi and Jordanian airspace, which is why the jet came down in Tabuk. Israel has no formal diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia or Oman, which could complicate any joint inquiry.
The scare also comes at a tense moment for the region, which LiveNewsWorld has followed in its coverage of the Iran and US standoff over Hormuz.
What happens next
Netanyahu said Saudi authorities are questioning the co-pilot. Investigators in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, along with a joint inquiry announced by Israel’s transport ministry and defence establishment, will try to establish what actually happened in the cockpit, and flydubai says it will review the Israel suspension as more information becomes available. Until investigators report, the airline’s account and Israel’s account remain two different versions of the same event.
