Flydubai passengers land in Tel Aviv after hijack scare, emergency landing in Saudi
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Flydubai passengers land in Tel Aviv after hijack scare, emergency landing in Saudi")
Passengers from an earlier diverted flydubai flight are seen after landing at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport in Lod on September 30, 2026. Photograph: (AFP)
Passengers from the Flydubai flight landed in Tel Aviv on a second flight after their plane made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after one of the pilots stabbed his co-pilot and attempted to crash the plane.
A plane carrying passengers from the rerouted Flydubai flight landed at Tel Aviv airport on Wednesday (Sep 30). The flight FZ 1073 was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after one of the pilots attempted to hijack the plane with the intention of crashing it. Israeli leaders have described the incident as an attempted “terrorist” attack. The passengers departed from Tabuk on a second aircraft, also operated by Flydubai, and landed on the tarmac of Ben Gurion Airport at 1534 GMT. Reportedly, Saudi Arabia had turned down a request from Israeli authorities to allow their planes to pick up Israeli passengers from the flight.
What happened on Flydubai flight?
According to the passengers’ account, an altercation broke out between the pilots, which turned violent. One of the pilots stabbed his co-pilot in the cockpit and attempted to crash the plane with the intention of killing everyone on board. During the altercation, the plane suddenly plunged several feet, from nearly 34,000 feet to less than 17,000 feet. Passengers intervened and took control of the pilot.
Smit Machchhar, an Indian captain, has been identified as the pilot who helped avert the crash of the aircraft. According to officials and reports, his Omani co-pilot attacked him and attempted to seize control of the Boeing 737 MAX 8.
The pilot who stabbed has been arrested and being interrogated by the Saudi authorities.
‘Pretty much out of control’
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Passenger Miryam Shira Ohayon said that the aircraft was “pretty much out of control” when the stabbing happened, as the plane was flying over Jordan on its path from Dubai to Tel Aviv.
“The co-pilot tried to murder the pilot and basically carry out a suicide attack on the plane,” she told reporters via a speakerphone held up by her mother at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv.
“It was really on the way to crashing, and it was simply the resourcefulness of many people who took control of the co-pilot and neutralised him,” she added.
“There was also a doctor who gave first aid, and people who treated both of them. Other than the pilot, there were no injuries, but the bigger fear was really a crash, which is exactly what he was trying to do,” the passenger said.
The plane also sent distress signal 7700, a general international emergency signal. It also briefly sent the code 7500, which signals hijacking and unlawful interference, before it went back to the original distress code.
