According to initial reconstructions, the co-pilot, an Omani citizen employed by the airline for 9 months, attacked the other pilot with a knife and then attempted to take control of the plane. During the scuffle the aircraft lost almost 4,000 meters of altitude in a few seconds, before being stabilized.
On board – among the 174 passengers – there were also other off-duty pilots who, according to Israeli sources, intervened together with the crew to neutralize the attacker.
🚨 BREAKING: A pilot aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv attacked the other pilot and attempted to seize control of the aircraft in terror attack.
The plane, carrying 174 Israeli passengers, plunged 14,000 feet before the situation was brought under control and… pic.twitter.com/FAgyt7dOpK
— Combat Antisemitism Movement (@CombatASemitism) September 30, 2026
Israel is evaluating the hypothesis of a deliberate action and does not rule out that the objective was to cause a massacre. At the moment, however, there is no public evidence of Iranian involvement nor has it been confirmed that the pilot intended to hit a specific target in Israeli territory. The Netanyahu government and security leaders have called emergency meetings regarding the incident. The Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katz, defined the incident as “an attempted jihadist terrorist attack”. At the same time, the Defense Minister praised the Israeli passengers for overpowering the pilot.
נראה שמיצב הזנב במטוס פליי דובאי לא שרד את הטיסה. pic.twitter.com/P15bj03F1K
— איתי בלומנטל 🇮🇱 Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) September 30, 2026
The images of the plane show how such a violent dive would have caused part of the aircraft’s tail to break. Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, confirmed that the captain and first officer are currently hospitalized.
The story
“I heard screams during the fight and saw blood on the floor coming from the pilot’s cabin, who was taken out,” Daniel, one of the passengers on board the Flydubai plane, told the Israeli channel Channel 12. “At first I heard a scuffle coming from the cockpit – says Daniel on the phone from Tabuk airport, in Saudi Arabia – The door was slightly ajar and I saw an attempt to push someone out. Then three Israelis who were sitting behind me came to see what was happening, and suddenly the plane went into a very steep dive. I then understood that the co-pilot stabbed the commander and, once the attacker had been immobilized by three Israelis, two other pilots on board took control of the plane.”
An Israeli passenger who helped restrain the alleged attacker told the Israeli TV network Kan 11 that the headphone cables distributed during the flight would be used. Zvika Manes, CEO of Bank Leumi’s Barak Capital Underwriting firm, explained that his wife was near the cockpit when she heard screams and called for help. He added that a backup pilot and several passengers then entered the cockpit and restrained the suspect.