Flydubai Flight Diverted to Saudi Arabia After Mid-Air Cockpit Attack; Israel Alleges Attempted Hijacking

A Flydubai passenger jet travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv was forced to make an emergency diversion to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after what Israeli officials have described as an attempted hijacking involving a violent assault on the flight deck. The aircraft, operating as flight FZ1073, landed safely at Tabuk Regional Airport, but the incident has triggered a diplomatic and security firestorm across the Middle East, with multiple governments now seeking answers about the attacker's identity and motives.

According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the pilots attacked the other with a knife before attempting to seize control of the aircraft and crash it. Netanyahu characterised the incident as a terrorist attack and praised the passengers and crew who intervened. "I salute these heroes who demonstrated extraordinary resourcefulness and courage," he said in a statement. "They saved many lives and prevented a major disaster."

The sequence of events began shortly after the plane departed Dubai at 03:05 local time. Flight tracking data showed that roughly two hours into the journey, the aircraft began experiencing significant altitude fluctuations. At approximately 05:22, the plane dropped more than 14,000 feet in under thirty seconds, a rate of descent that would have caused severe turbulence and panic among those onboard. Flightradar24 reported that an initial general emergency signal, designated by the code 7700, was transmitted at around 05:31 UTC. Seven minutes later, that signal was changed to code 7500, which specifically declares "unlawful interference," the internationally recognised transponder code for hijacking.

Footage circulated on social media appeared to show the captain lying on the floor of the aircraft with multiple stab wounds, while a passenger was visible with a bloody injury to the head. In another video, passengers could be heard weeping and crying out as the plane shuddered violently during its descent.

Passenger testimony has provided a vivid account of the chaos that unfolded in the cabin. Dalia Shpigel, speaking to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, described how passengers seated toward the front of the aircraft realised something was gravely wrong when the plane began to plunge. "An hour before landing, we felt that there was no control over the plane, that it was starting to jump," she said. "The guys saw that the plane had begun to dive and broke into the cockpit." According to Shpigel, those passengers overpowered the pilot who was reportedly attempting to sabotage the aircraft's systems.

The mother of another passenger described the terror her daughter experienced. Yasmin Abukasis, whose daughter Miriam was onboard, told journalists at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport that her daughter believed she was going to die. She credited other pilots travelling as passengers on the flight with taking control of the aircraft after the cockpit struggle. This detail suggests that the intervention was not only physical but also technical, with qualified aviators among the passengers stepping in to stabilise the plane.

At Tabuk's Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport, Saudi officials confirmed that both the captain and the first officer had been hospitalised after sustaining injuries. A statement carried by the Saudi state-run Alekhbariya television network said both men were receiving medical treatment. The condition of the two pilots has not been publicly disclosed.

Flydubai issued a brief statement acknowledging that an altercation had occurred on the flight deck. The airline confirmed that all passengers were safe and accounted for, and that the aircraft had been secured by on-duty crew members travelling onboard. The carrier did not comment on the nationality or identity of the attacker.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said preliminary information indicated that the attacker intended to bring down the aircraft with everyone onboard, labelling the incident an "attempted jihadist terror attack." An Israeli official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, identified the attacker as an Omani national. The motive remains unclear, and no organisation has claimed responsibility for the attack. Saudi authorities are reportedly interrogating the pilot who carried out the assault.

The diplomatic dimensions of the incident are complex. Israel does not maintain formal diplomatic relations with either Saudi Arabia or Oman. Muscat has deliberately avoided joining the wave of Arab states that normalised ties with Israel through the Abraham Accords, citing the unresolved Palestinian question. Saudi Arabia has similarly conditioned any normalisation on Israeli acceptance of a Palestinian state. The fact that the flight was diverted to Saudi territory, and that the alleged attacker is reportedly Omani, places both governments in a delicate position as they cooperate on an investigation that touches on Israeli security interests.

Wednesday's incident occurred just days before Israel marks the anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, in which around 1,200 people were killed. That attack triggered Israel's military campaign in Gaza, which has killed more than 75,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, according to the source material. Around 1,400 deaths have been recorded since a US-brokered ceasefire supposedly took effect in October 2025.

The emergency also generated confusion in Israeli media. A second Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, FZ1081, was erroneously reported to have turned around mid-journey. The Times of Israel attributed the mistake to a glitch on flight-tracking websites. That aircraft did not transmit any emergency signal and continued to Tel Aviv without disruption.

Politically, the incident has already become entangled in Israel's domestic election campaign, with legislative elections scheduled for October 27. Opposition leader Yair Lapid rejected suggestions by Netanyahu's allies that the attack validated earlier warnings about threats to Israel. Lapid noted on X that the warning about activity abroad had been in place for more than two years and was unrelated to aviation. He accused Netanyahu of attempting to exploit the episode for political gain, though the full text of his remarks was cut off in the source material.

The United Arab Emirates has become an increasingly popular destination for Israeli tourists since the two countries normalised relations in 2020, and the Dubai-Tel Aviv route is among the busiest in the region. Wednesday's diversion has raised fresh questions about aviation security on civilian routes connecting the Gulf to Israel, and about how intelligence agencies failed to detect an apparent plot before the aircraft departed. Investigations by Saudi and Israeli authorities are ongoing, and further details about the attacker's background and possible affiliations are expected to emerge in the coming days.