Jerusalem
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Sept. 30, 2026, 1:55 p.m. ET
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3 min read
A pilot aboard a FlyDubai flight from the United Arab Emirates to Israel stabbed his co‑pilot and attempted to crash the aircraft, forcing the commercial plane to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, Israel’s prime minister said Wednesday.
“During the flight, when they approached Israel, one of the pilots stabbed the other and apparently tried to crash the plane,” Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement.
Some passengers and crew members charged the cockpit and restrained the assailant, allowing a second pair of pilots to take control and land the plane safely. About 180 people were on the flight, most of them Israeli citizens.
None of the passengers suffered serious injuries in the confrontation, which dominated Israeli headlines throughout the day.
Flight 1073 departed Dubai for Tel Aviv at 6:50 a.m. Wednesday. About two hours into the journey, the cockpit transmitted an emergency broadcast and the airliner diverted from its planned route.
“They had already served breakfast, and we ate and they cleared it,” Hila Gaier, a passenger, told Israel’s Kan radio. “Suddenly, the plane plummeted.”
“The communications and electricity and screens cut out, and we were diving down, then we straightened out, then dived,” she said.
Flight tracker data showed the aircraft dropped from cruising altitude at 33,000 feet to 15,000 feet before making an emergency landing at an airport in Tabuk, northern Saudi Arabia.
A video circulated on Israeli news outlets showed an injured passenger saying in Hebrew, “We’re in the middle of a plane hijacking.”
“We’ve just subdued the terrorists; we are about to land. Anyone who can hear me, we need help,” the unidentified passenger said.
Tzvika Manes, another Israeli passenger, told Kan public television that his wife heard screams from the cockpit. “Another crew member entered the cockpit and then we saw the stabs and he was thrown out,” he said.
“Three of us jumped on him and neutralized him,” he said, then bound the attacker with corded headphones. One of the pilots was reportedly wounded.
Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, described the incident as an “attempted jihadist terror attack that was thwarted thanks to the heroism of a number of passengers.” Israeli media reported the assailant was from Oman, which lacks diplomatic ties with Israel.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said hours after the plane landed in Saudi Arabia that “the pilot who did the stabbing was arrested and is being interrogated by Saudi authorities.”
Israel and Saudi Arabia do not have diplomatic relations, though Saudi Arabia began allowing flights to and from Israel to transit its airspace in 2020 after the Abraham Accords normalized ties between Israel and the UAE.
“I salute these heroes who demonstrated exceptional resourcefulness and courage,” Prime Minister Netanyahu added.
A separate FlyDubai aircraft carrying the passengers from Flight 1073 landed in Israel Wednesday evening. Its approach and touchdown at Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv were broadcast live on all of Israel’s national television channels.
