A routine overnight service from Dubai to Tel Aviv became one of the most frightening aviation emergencies of the year on Wednesday. A flydubai flight headed for Tel Aviv saw one pilot stab another, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacker may have tried to bring the plane down. The jet landed safely in Saudi Arabia, and everyone on board survived. The cause is still unknown.
What happened on flydubai FZ1073
The aircraft was a Boeing 737 MAX 8. It left Dubai International Airport shortly after 3 a.m. GMT with 174 passengers and six crew, and flight-tracking data showed the altitude changing erratically about two hours later. Officials said the jet fell nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds. Soon after, the aircraft sent a general emergency code, followed by the code used to signal unlawful interference, which crews can use to warn of a hijacking.
Inside the cabin, passengers knew something was wrong long before they understood what. One passenger told Israel’s Channel 12 he heard “something like a fight” from the cockpit, then screams, then saw blood on the floor. He described a steep dive and an intense spin that lasted at least two minutes, and said it felt like an eternity.
Israeli officials say the turning point came from the wounded captain. The Israel Foreign Ministry named him as Capt. Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, and called him a hero who fought back after being stabbed. Netanyahu said that despite serious injuries, he opened the cockpit door and let passengers and crew overpower the attacker.
Passenger accounts describe what came next. One traveler said a few passengers went forward and struggled with the suspect for roughly 20 to 25 minutes, then tied him up with corded headphones. Another passenger, a dentist, told The New York Times he found the captain on the floor with serious head injuries and cuts to his fingers, and treated him there. The dentist later told reporters the pilot had lost a great deal of blood and that a few more minutes could have cost him his life.
Who landed the plane?
This is the part of the story that remains murky. Flydubai says the aircraft was secured by on-duty crew traveling on the flight, who diverted and landed it safely at Tabuk Airport. Some passengers have said two off-duty pilots were aboard and took the controls. The captain himself told NPR that another pilot on the plane flew it to the ground in Saudi Arabia. Investigators have not publicly settled the question.
The aircraft landed at Tabuk, where there is a civilian airport next to a Saudi military base. Saudi airport operator Cluster2 said both pilots were injured and taken to hospital. Photos from the ground appear to show part of the tail missing, which a former Israeli flight-security official linked to the violent plunge.
The suspect and the unanswered questions
Netanyahu said the pilot accused of the stabbing was arrested. Israeli officials say he is an Omani national, and Israeli agencies are examining how a pilot from a country without full diplomatic ties to Israel came to be assigned to the route. Israel’s transportation minister, Miri Regev, has asked the aviation authority to check whether the UAE broke its aviation agreement with Israel. These are Israeli claims. No official motive has been announced, and the suspect has not been publicly named.
Accounts also differ on details. A passenger’s mother told reporters the attacker used a pocketknife. Newsweek reported that investigators have not publicly confirmed whether a weapon was used, or whether the aim was to crash the plane or to take hostages. One Israeli official called the incident a probable terror attack, based on a preliminary investigation. Flydubai has taken a more careful line. It described only an “altercation” on the flight deck and urged everyone to avoid speculation until the formal investigation reports back.
Flydubai sent two replacement aircraft to Tabuk, and the passengers continued to Israel that evening. Netanyahu met them at Ben Gurion Airport, where one passenger who helped restrain the pilot was still in blood-stained clothes. An airport spokesperson said one 50-year-old passenger went to hospital with a light upper-body injury.
Flydubai suspends Israel flights
The airline paused all Israel services while investigators work out what happened. That matters because flydubai started Dubai-Tel Aviv flights in 2020 and kept flying the route through the Gaza war, when many airlines stopped. Newsweek describes the airline as the largest carrier on the corridor, one of the busiest in the region since the Abraham Accords. The airline said the incident did not affect the rest of its network.
Reactions
Netanyahu told Israelis the intervention prevented a catastrophic mid-air disaster. Israeli opposition figures also praised the passengers. President Trump said he discussed the case with Netanyahu, though he added that the account he had been given came secondhand. US officials said there was no known credible threat to the United States. Netanyahu also spoke with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed after the incident.
Aviation security experts say the case is unusual. Dave Komendat, a former chief security officer at Boeing, noted that the threat appears to have come from inside the cockpit, from a crew member, when security planning usually looks outward. He expects airlines and regulators to review cockpit access, crew screening and vetting procedures once investigators find out whether a gap existed.
Saudi, Israeli and UAE authorities are all investigating. The open questions are the suspect’s identity and motive, whether a weapon was used, who flew the aircraft down, and how the cockpit door was opened mid-struggle. For travelers, flydubai’s Israel flights remain suspended until further notice, so anyone booked on the route should check directly with the airline.
