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SharpPost Editorial Team | September 30, 2026

A flydubai flight to Israel made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on September 30 after a violent confrontation in the cockpit. A passenger said two off-duty pilots aboard the aircraft took over after the attacker was subdued and brought the jet safely to the ground.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said one pilot had stabbed the other and apparently tried to crash the plane. Flight FZ1073, operated by the United Arab Emirates carrier, had left Dubai for Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv before diverting to Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia.

A passenger identified as Daniel told Hebrew-language media that the aircraft descended sharply and screams filled the cabin, according to The Times of Israel. He saw an injured pilot brought out of the cockpit. Two pilots travelling off duty then took control, he said, landing about an hour later.

The newspaper also reported accounts of passengers helping to subdue the attacker and a doctor aboard providing first aid to injured pilots. After landing, passengers disembarked and waited in the airport terminal.

In a subsequent statement, flydubai confirmed an altercation in the flight deck. The airline described those who secured, diverted and landed the aircraft as on-duty flydubai crew travelling on the flight. It said all passengers and crew were safe and accounted for.

Netanyahu said he had spoken to a passenger who entered the cockpit with a crew member and stopped the pilot from further damaging aircraft systems. He praised their intervention, saying it had prevented a disaster, ABC News reported.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz described the incident as an attempted terrorist attack, citing preliminary information. Flydubai said the reasons and motives remained unknown and would be established through a formal investigation.

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 transmitted a general emergency code followed by a hijacking alert before landing in Tabuk, according to flight-tracking records cited by aviation publication AeroTime.

Flydubai said it had sent two replacement aircraft to Tabuk to assist passengers and crew. The carrier said it was cooperating with the authorities and that its other scheduled services were unaffected.