Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that a pilot was stabbed by another pilot on an Israel-bound plane, stating that the suspect is under investigation in Saudi Arabia with no known motive. The suspect was expected to be returned to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where the flight originated, Netanyahu told Fox News. Israel is expected to contribute to the investigation, the prime minister added.
US President Donald Trump mentioned speaking with Netanyahu after the incident, suggesting the attacker might have been a terrorist or had other motives. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz characterized the event as an “attempted jihadist terror attack,” though he provided no further details.
Flydubai flight FZ1073 departed from Dubai International Airport in the UAE at 03:05 GMT (07:05 local time), heading toward Ben-Gurion Airport in Israel. Approximately two and a half hours into the flight, tracking data from Flightrader24 showed the aircraft making a rapid descent over Saudi Arabia, dropping more than 17,000 feet (over 5,000 meters) in under two minutes.
Shortly after, the plane emitted an emergency squawk 7700 code, followed by a squawk 7500 code indicating a hijacking. About 20 minutes later, the aircraft turned back toward Saudi Arabia and began a manual descent to land. Less than an hour after that, the plane resumed transmitting the squawk 7700 emergency code.
In the wake of the incident, both the Israeli and Saudi Arabian air forces scrambled fighter jets, while Netanyahu conducted urgent consultations.
