Asia · 01 October, 2026 · 2 min read
Benjamin Netanyahu Says Co-Pilot Stabbed Pilot, Passengers Foiled Attempted Crash on Flydubai Flight
Co-pilot stabbed the captain and tried to crash the plane; passengers restrained him. Plane diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, landed safely with all passengers safe.
Whether the incident is treated mainly as terror or politics.
5 of 6 outlets skipped it: netanyahu warns of potential additional threats to Israel and airlines.
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Al Jazeera
“Yair Lapid on Wednesday accused the government of playing ‘cheap politics’”Read the original ↗
ABC News leans on official terror intent, while Al Jazeera foregrounds political dispute over the same security claims.
Stabbing, diversion, and landing
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a pilot on a commercial flight carrying 174 people stabbed the other pilot and “apparently tried to crash the jet,” prompting passengers to hold the alleged attacker down and a diversion to Saudi Arabia. Tabuk Airport said its air traffic control received a distress call from flight FZ1073 at 8:44am local time, and the aircraft landed there safely about an hour later after taking off from Dubai International Airport on Wednesday morning.
Al Jazeera said the plane dropped 17,000 feet during the fight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, but landed safely after being diverted to land in Saudi Arabia. AFlydubai said an “altercation had occurred” on the flight deck of FZ1073 and that the underlying reasons and motives behind the event were unknown and remained subject to a formal investigation.
Competing labels and praise
Benjamin Netanyahu told CBS Evening News that he “don’t think it was a hijacking” and said it “looks like a suicide attempt,” while he also said the pilot who initiated the attack is an Omani citizen and is being interrogated in Saudi Arabia. Donald Trump said he spoke with Netanyahu and that it seemed as though the co-pilot was “perhaps a terrorist” or there were other reasons behind the attack, as the incident was treated as a terror attack by Israeli authorities.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz called the incident an “attempted jihadist terror attack,” and he said several Israeli passengers breached the cockpit and managed to overpower the suspect. Netanyahu praised the passengers and crew who intervened, saying the stabbed pilot “enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker — preventing a catastrophic mid-air disaster.”
Suspensions, arrests, and next steps
Flydubai announced the suspension of all its flights to and from Israel following the incident involving Flight FZ 1073, and the airline said the suspension would last while the investigation continues. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the incident as an attempted terrorist attack aimed at undermining the Abraham Accords and the relations between the two countries, quoting its director-general Alon Bar Tal informing “all ambassadors and heads of Israeli missions around the world” about what happened.
The Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia said Captain Smit Machchhar was receiving treatment at a Tabuk hospital after the aircraft made an emergency landing there, and it said it was monitoring his condition with its consulate in Jeddah. Netanyahu said Saudi authorities arrested one of the pilots and that he expected the suspect pilot would be moved to Dubai soon, while he also said he ordered security agencies to be prepared for the possibility of further threats.