New details have emerged about flydubai flight FZ1073, which transmitted a hijack code on its way from Dubai to Tel Aviv and made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Jerusalem Post that one of the pilots attempted to hijack the plane with the intention of crashing it into the ground, and that “a major disaster was narrowly avoided.” Israeli security agencies are examining the incident as a suspected act of terror.
The official said it was not yet clear whether the attacker intended to hijack the plane to Israel, crash it into the ground or carry out a September 11-style attack. Israeli media also reported claims that the pilot had tried to bring the plane down with himself on board in a suicide attempt.
According to passenger accounts, one of the pilots was stabbed during the struggle in the cockpit. Israeli passengers seated near the front reportedly rushed to the cockpit and overpowered the attacker, while an Israeli dentist on board gave first aid to the stabbed pilot. In a video he recorded, a passenger described how an attacker with a knife wounded one of the pilots and how passengers pulled him out of the cockpit. Photos that emerged show one of the passengers who intervened with his shirt covered in bloodstains.
The aircraft reportedly lost about 4,000 meters of altitude during the struggle. Photos taken after landing show damage to the top of the plane’s vertical tail; the cause of the damage has not been officially explained.
The operator of Tabuk Airport said the captain and the first officer were injured and taken to hospital, while passengers were treated in the terminal. Israel Hayom reported that Mossad teams were moving to question the hospitalized pilots; the report has not been officially confirmed.
Information about the pilots’ identities remains contradictory. In the first hours, some Israeli media claimed the fight broke out between a Russian captain and a Ukrainian co-pilot. Israel Hayom later reported that the captain is Emirati and the co-pilot Omani, and according to the Jerusalem Post, initial findings indicate the suspect is an Omani national.
Flydubai said that “all passengers are safe and accounted for. The safety and well-being of our passengers and crew remain our highest priority.” The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said the incident was under control and that all measures were being deployed to return the Israeli passengers safely to Israel. Flydubai planned to send another aircraft to take the passengers to Tel Aviv, while Defense Minister Israel Katz and military Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir reportedly considered dispatching military or civilian planes.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said: “Whoever tried to crash a plane and murder 180 Israelis must pay as if he murdered.”
