Flydubai has temporarily suspended flights to and from Israel after a reportedly serious security incident aboard a Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight that was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, according to media reports.
Flight FZ1073 was carrying 174 people, most of them Israeli nationals, when a violent confrontation reportedly broke out in the cockpit while the aircraft was flying over the region.
Israeli officials said the co-pilot stabbed Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, and attempted to crash the aircraft. The plane reportedly dropped more than 14,000 feet in about 30 seconds before passengers and crew intervened.
Machchhar, despite being injured, managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew members to enter and restrain the co-pilot. A reserve flydubai crew travelling on the aircraft then took control and landed the plane safely at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia.
Both pilots were taken to hospital in Saudi Arabia. The co-pilot was detained by Saudi authorities, who began investigating the incident. His motive has not been established.
Flydubai said an “altercation” had occurred in the cockpit and warned against premature speculation while authorities investigate the circumstances. The airline said the underlying reasons for the incident remained unknown.
Passengers were later flown to Tel Aviv on a replacement aircraft. Saudi Arabia also rejected an Israeli request to allow Israeli military aircraft to retrieve the passengers, according to two security sources cited by Reuters. The passengers instead continued their journey on a flydubai aircraft.
Following the incident, flydubai announced a temporary suspension of all flights to and from Israel. The airline said the suspension would allow authorities to establish the facts surrounding the incident and that it would review the decision as more information became available.
Israeli authorities also said security checks on pilots flying into Israel would be strengthened. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said authorities would increase checks on the identities and backgrounds of pilots operating flights to Israel.
The incident occurred on a route that flydubai operates between Dubai and Tel Aviv, established after the UAE and Israel normalised relations in 2020. The investigation into what happened aboard FZ1073 remains ongoing.
