Story summary
On September 30, 2026, a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv signalled an emergency over Jordanian airspace, turning around shortly after and landing at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia. The plane, carrying approximately 150 passengers mostly Israeli citizens, transmitted distress signals indicating possible unlawful interference but was later found safe with no hijacking involved. Instead, the situation stemmed from a physical altercation between the pilots. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held urgent consultations and the Israeli Air Force scrambled fighter jets in response to initial fears of a hijack attempt.
Written for “Israel Bound Flight Diverts Due to Co…” on 2026-10-04,
grounded in this article and the 282 other(s) covering the same event.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says investigations suggest the man who stabbed his fellow pilot and tried to take over a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv had undergone "Islamist radical indoctrination".
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who → publish → indoctrination
The Flydubai plane plunged more than 17,000ft (5,200m) two hours into its journey on Wednesday, before passengers and crew overpowered the attacker and retook control to land safely.
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passengers → plunge → control
Speaking to Fox News, Netanyahu also said it was looking "very likely" that the attacker, who he said was an Omani national, "was going to down the plane".
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he → speak → plane
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) state news agency reports investigations have begun there to determine "whether the incident was linked to any terrorist activity or purpose".
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incident → report → activity
The co-pilot is currently being questioned in Saudi Arabia, where the plane made an emergency landing.
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plane → question → landing
However UAE officials say they have jurisdiction over the incident because the aircraft on which the attack took place is registered there and flies under its flag.
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attack → say → flag
Netanyahu told Fox that once the attacker had been subdued and tied up by passengers and crew, he was "calling out to the aircrew 'kill me, kill me', so it's clear he was suicidal that's not a question".
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And with all the passengers in there, and if you couple that with what I just told you about the Islamist tendencies, that radicalisation that were found in his background, I think ... that'll give us a pretty good clue but again I don't make final conclusions yet but that's the indications we have now.
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we → couple → conclusions
The prime minister was also asked earlier on the same network whether there was an indication if Iran was involved, he replied: "It's too early to say".
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It → ask → network
The attacker was arrested in Saudi Arabia and is expected to be transferred to the UAE, Netanyahu said.
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Netanyahu → arrest → UAE
Both Netanyahu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the stabbed pilot, Indian national Capt Smit Machchhar was a "hero".
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pilot → say → ?
India's ambassador to the UAE Deepak Mittal visited Captain Machhar in hospital on Thursday, the Indian Mission confirmed on social media, stating he was "in good health and recovering well".
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he → visit → health
Preliminary findings from a separate Israeli investigation into the incident, suggest that the alleged attacker intended to crash the plane, an Israeli security source told BBC Arabic.
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source → suggest → Arabic
The source said the investigation - led by Israel's intelligence agency Mossad - interviewed passengers after they arrived in Tel Aviv to establish what had happened on the plane.
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what → say → plane
Flydubai's flight FZ1073, with more than 170 people on board, took off from Dubai International Airport in the UAE at 03:05 GMT (07:05 local time), en route to Ben Gurion Airport.
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flight → take → Airport
Two hours later, the 17,000ft drop in altitude was reported on the plane tracking website Flightradar24 and minutes later the plane signalled an emergency code.
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plane → report → code
At about 05:40, the plane - which had briefly entered Jordanian airspace - looped back into Saudi Arabia, where it later started its manual descent, landing safely at Tabuk Airport in the north west of Saudi.
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it → enter → Saudi
Flydubai has since suspended flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv as it carried out its own investigation into the incident.
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it → suspend → incident
Israel's Transportation Ministry said the suspension aligns with Netanyahu's directive.
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suspension → say → directive
Israeli airlines including El Al, Israir and Arkia said plans were in place to operate rescue flights from Dubai starting on Friday to bring back stranded passengers.
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plans → include → passengers
The Transportation Ministry also said it sent an urgent request to Etihad Airlines to increase the number of flights between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv.
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it → say → Dhabi
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