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The nose of a plain white passenger jet parked at an empty jet bridge on an airport apron in low evening light.

FLYDUBAI FLIGHT TO TEL AVIV DIVERTED TO SAUDI ARABIA AFTER COCKPIT VIOLENCE
 

Flydubai flight FZ1073, bound for Tel Aviv, made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, on September 30, 2026. Illustrative image; not the aircraft involved.

 

A Dubai–Tel Aviv flight made an emergency landing in Tabuk on September 30, 2026, after both pilots were injured, and Israeli officials say they suspect an attempted attack while no official finding on motive has been made.

 

Date written: 2026-09-30

Last updated: October 1, 2026, 11:00 a.m. CT​

​

This story is pending development. It reports only what has been confirmed or attributed to a named source so far, and it will be updated as officials release more information.

 

What Happened on Flight FZ1073

On September 30, 2026, flydubai flight FZ 1073, flying from Dubai to Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, made an emergency landing at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia.

 

According to Flightradar24, the aircraft "squawked 7700, then 7500, then 7700 again." Code 7700 signals a general emergency, and code 7500 signals unlawful interference. News outlets reported that the plane made a steep descent of many thousands of feet.

 

What Is Confirmed

  • The airline: In its second statement, flydubai said, "An altercation occurred in the flight deck of flight FZ 1073." It said the plane "was successfully secured by on-duty flydubai crew travelling on the flight, who diverted and landed the aircraft safely at Tabuk Airport (TUU)," and that "all passengers and crew are safe and accounted for." Its first statement had said only that the flight "experienced an incident while en route."

  • Replacement flights: flydubai said it had sent two replacement aircraft to Tabuk.

  • Flights suspended: In a third statement, flydubai said that "in coordination with the relevant authorities, flydubai flights to and from Israel will be suspended while the investigation continues." It said, "This temporary suspension will allow the relevant authorities to continue their work and establish all the facts surrounding the incident."

  • The UAE regulator: The UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) called it a "security incident" that was brought under control, according to Gulf News and Khaleej Times. It said the aircraft diverted and made an emergency landing at Tabuk, and that some crew members were injured and taken to hospital in Saudi Arabia. The GCAA urged the public not to speculate and said findings would be released later.

  • The landing: Cluster2, the operator of Tabuk Airport, said the distress call came at 8:44 a.m. and the plane landed at 9:45 a.m. local time, according to Saudi Gazette. It said, "The captain and co-pilot were found to have sustained injuries and were taken to hospital."

  • The investigation: Cluster2 said, "Authorities are continuing investigations into the incident."

  • The captain: India's embassy in Saudi Arabia said on September 30 that the injured captain is an Indian national who was being treated at a hospital in Tabuk and was reported to be in stable condition, according to Al Jazeera. The embassy said it is in contact with his family and with Saudi authorities. On October 1, the Indian Consulate in the UAE said India's ambassador to the UAE had met the captain's family, according to Reuters.

  • The Israeli government: Israel's Prime Minister's Office said, "The situation is under control, and all measures are currently being taken to bring the Israeli passengers back to Israel safely," according to The Times of Israel.

What Israeli Officials Say

The accounts below come from Israeli officials. None has been confirmed by an official investigation.

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a pilot stabbed another pilot and then apparently tried to crash the plane, according to the Associated Press. He said passengers and crew intervened, and that Saudi Arabia had arrested a pilot of the flight. "The pilot who carried out the stabbing was arrested and is currently being questioned by the Saudi authorities," Netanyahu said, according to BBC News. Saudi Arabia has not confirmed an arrest.

 

Netanyahu also said he had spoken with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed. "We said that we are going to sort out the entire security issue," he said, according to Ynet. The Times of Israel also reported the call.

 

In an interview with CBS News on September 30, Netanyahu indicated that the motive was still unknown and said, "I don't think it was a hijacking." He said he assumed the suspect would be "moved very quickly to Dubai" and that Israeli authorities would "join the interrogation and find out what happened there exactly," according to CBS News. "We'll be following and possibly also participating in this investigation," Netanyahu said in another interview, according to BBC News. A senior Israeli official told CBS News that UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed had told Netanyahu he expected Saudi authorities to transfer the pilot to the UAE for questioning. That is not a Saudi confirmation of an arrest or a transfer.

Netanyahu called the captain a "true hero." He said, "Despite being stabbed and seriously injured, he fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door, and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker," which he said prevented "a catastrophic mid-air disaster," according to BBC News and Al Jazeera. India's embassy has said the captain is in stable condition.

 

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar spoke on Wednesday evening with UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Israel's Foreign Ministry described the call as "warm" and said the two expressed "a mutual determination to strengthen relations between the countries at all levels and to cooperate against extremist elements seeking to harm security and undermine stability in the region," according to The Times of Israel.

 

The Foreign Ministry's director general also briefed Israeli ambassadors around the world to present the incident as an attack against Israelis, the UAE and the Abraham Accords, the 2020 agreements that normalized relations between Israel and the UAE, according to The Times of Israel. That is the Israeli government's message, not an investigative finding. flydubai and the GCAA say the motive is still under investigation.

 

Defense Minister Israel Katz said, "The incident on the flydubai plane was an attempted jihadist attack, which was only foiled thanks to the heroism of a number of Israeli passengers," according to The Jerusalem Post. That is his description, not a finding by investigators.

 

President Isaac Herzog thanked the "heroes" on the flight who he said "acted with immense courage," according to BBC News. On October 1, Herzog's office credited Israeli passengers by role: one passenger raised the alarm after hearing a commotion in the cockpit, several men entered the cockpit after the captain opened the door and overpowered the attacker, one of them steadied the controls, and a doctor among them treated the wounded captain, according to BBC News.

 

Early in the day, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office told Reuters that the incident "was not believed to have been a hijacking."

 

Later, two Israeli officials who spoke to Reuters without being named said Israel believes it "may have been an attempted 'terror attack' by one of the pilots." They said the co-pilot "was believed to have stabbed the captain."

 

Israeli sources told CNN it is "not yet clear whether the intention would have been to crash the plane or to land it and take hostages." Israeli officials told The Times of Israel that "other options were also being looked into, including a mental health episode."

 

What Passengers Report

These are accounts from passengers and their relatives. Investigators have not confirmed them.

 

  • The Jerusalem Post: Passengers told the paper that a pilot was stabbed, that Israelis "rushed to the cockpit and fought the attacker," and that two off-duty pilots took over.

  • The Times of Israel: A passenger told Channel 12, as relayed by The Times of Israel, "We heard screams on the plane. Then they opened the cockpit and we saw blood." Israeli passengers helped restrain an alleged attacker "along with members of the crew," the report said. People on the plane and their relatives also told Hebrew-language media that the co-pilot appeared to have stabbed the captain, and a passenger said off-duty pilots took control.

  • Reuters: A passenger's relative told Reuters that her daughter said "a man holding a knife had forced one of the pilots onto the floor."

  • BBC News: In a video checked by BBC Verify, a passenger says, "We took control of the flight and an assailant with a knife who stabbed one of the pilots." In footage carried by BBC News, another passenger told Netanyahu that he put the attacker "in a chokehold" and pulled him out of the cockpit, and that the attacker was "trying to destroy the instruments in order to disable the plane."

  • Ynet: A passenger told the Israeli broadcaster Kan 11, as reported by Ynet, that passengers tied up the suspect with headphone cables.


Investigations and Official Responses

Several investigations are under way. Officials have not said which authority is leading the overall inquiry.

 

  • The UAE criminal investigation: The UAE Attorney General, Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, ordered a team of specialist Public Prosecution members to investigate the incident, according to WAM, the UAE state news agency, which reported a UAE Foreign Ministry statement on October 1, 2026. The team is examining the circumstances and motives, including any link to terrorism, prior planning or outside direction, and t is working with the GCAA, according to WAM, Gulf News and The National. Reuters also reported the order. These are questions under investigation, not findings.

  • UAE jurisdiction: The UAE Foreign Ministry said UAE judicial authorities have jurisdiction because the aircraft is registered in the UAE and flies its flag, and UAE law applies to crimes committed on board even outside UAE territory, according to WAM. The UAE also thanked the Saudi authorities for their cooperation.

  • The Saudi safety investigation: Saudi Arabia's National Transport Safety Center (NTSC) said it opened an aviation safety investigation into the emergency landing in Tabuk and is coordinating with authorities to establish the circumstances, check safety-related aspects and collect evidence, according to Anadolu Agency.

  • Other inquiries: Cluster2 said, "Authorities are continuing investigations into the incident," according to Saudi Gazette. The Associated Press reported that "the crew have been questioned as part of the investigation." The UAE's GCAA said its investigation teams, "in coordination with the relevant authorities," are reviewing the operational and security aspects of the incident, according to Gulf News and Khaleej Times.

  • The aircraft: A senior flydubai official told The National that the aircraft's rudder was damaged and that no passengers were seriously hurt.

  • The United States: US Attorney General Todd Blanche said Washington is coordinating "very closely" with counterparts overseas, including Israel, according to The Times of Israel. The US State Department said four passengers were US citizens, according to Al Jazeera.

  • Israel's military response: Israel scrambled warplanes, according to Israeli officials cited by the Associated Press. The Israeli military said the IDF chief of staff held a situational assessment, according to Reuters.

  • The passengers' return: Saudi Arabia turned down an Israeli request to let Israeli planes pick up the passengers, two security sources told Reuters. The passengers left Tabuk at 17:40 local time, the airport operator Cluster2 said, according to BBC News. Some passengers at first refused to board the replacement flight and asked for an Israeli carrier, according to The Jerusalem Post and The Times of Israel. Tabuk airport later said every passenger from the original flight had boarded, according to The Jerusalem Post. The rescue flight landed at Ben Gurion Airport on the evening of September 30, according to The Jerusalem Post, Ynet and BBC News. Netanyahu and Regev met the passengers there, The Jerusalem Post reported.

  • Medical care: A spokesperson for Magen David Adom, Israel's emergency medical service, said one passenger with a mild wound to the upper body was taken to hospital, according to The Jerusalem Post and Ynet. An MDA medic told BBC News that the other passengers walked off the plane on their own.

  • Flights to Israel: Transportation Minister Miri Regev "called for a halt to all flydubai flights to and from Israel," according to The Times of Israel. Regev has demanded that flydubai flights to Israel be suspended until the investigation ends, according to Ynet. flydubai later announced a temporary suspension of its flights to and from Israel. The Jerusalem Post reported that the announcement followed a recommendation by the Shin Bet earlier that day that flights between the UAE and Israel be suspended "until the investigation progresses."

  • Pilot checks: Israeli authorities are increasing security checks on pilots flying to Israel, according to BBC News.

  • Israeli airlines: The Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service, gave Israeli airlines temporary approval for several days to fly UAE routes using leased aircraft while the investigation continues, according to Ynet.

What Is Not Yet Known

flydubai said "the underlying reasons and motives behind this event are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation." The Jerusalem Post also reported that "the motive of the pilot has not been made clear at this time." No antisemitic motive has been reported.

 

Other open questions:

 

  • The pilots: India's embassy has said the captain is an Indian national. The other pilot's nationality and the pilots' exact roles have not been officially confirmed.

  • The other pilot's condition: Officials have said only that both pilots were injured and taken to hospital.

  • Arrests: Netanyahu said a pilot was arrested, but Saudi Arabia has not confirmed it, and no charges have been reported. A senior Israeli official has said a transfer to the UAE was expected, but no transfer has been confirmed.

  • Who leads the investigation: The UAE Public Prosecution, the GCAA and Saudi Arabia's NTSC have each opened inquiries, but it is not yet clear how the work is divided or which authority is leading it.

  • The passengers: The number of people on board has not been confirmed.

  • Flights: flydubai has not given an end date for its suspension, saying only that flights will be suspended while the investigation continues.


Background: Past Attacks on Flights to and From Israel

No official has formally linked this incident to any past attack. This section is background only, and the events below are separate from this case.

 

  • 1968: On the night of July 22 to 23, 1968, three Palestinian hijackers seized El Al flight 426, flying from Rome to Tel Aviv, and forced it to land in Algiers, according to a U.S. State Department record.

  • 1970: The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine held three hijacked airliners at Dawson's Field, an airstrip in the Jordanian desert, and blew them up after taking the hostages off, according to the BBC. The group kept 40 hostages, whom it said were members of the Israeli army. The remaining hostages were freed unharmed after Palestinian prisoners were released on September 30, 1970.

  • 1976: Hijackers forced an Air France jet to fly to Entebbe, Uganda. According to Britannica, they "freed those of the 258 passengers who did not appear to be Israeli or Jewish and held the rest hostage."


On the day of the FZ1073 incident, a senior Israeli official told Channel 12, as quoted by JNS, that "we would have been facing an incident straight out of September 2001 or July 1976." That was one official's comparison, not a finding.

 

For the longer history of hostility toward Jews, see History.

 

Much about flight FZ1073 is still unclear. So far, the airline has confirmed an altercation in the cockpit, an emergency landing, and passengers and crew who are safe, and it has suspended its flights to and from Israel while the investigation continues. The UAE's civil aviation authority has called it a security incident, the UAE Attorney General has ordered a criminal investigation, and Saudi Arabia's transport safety center has opened a safety investigation. The Tabuk airport operator has confirmed that both pilots were injured, and India's embassy says the captain is in stable condition. The passengers have since landed in Israel. Motives remain unknown. Everything else on this page comes from officials, passengers or news reports, and each claim is attributed to its source. This page will be updated as investigators release their findings.

 

Sources


Related: History

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