Passengers embark on a FlyDubai aircraft at Ben Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
A pilot on a FlyDubai flight from the United Arab Emirates to Israel stabbed another pilot Wednesday and then apparently tried to crash the jetliner carrying around 170 people, Israel’s prime minister said. Passengers and crew subdued the attacker. The plane then landed safely in Saudi Arabia.
An Israeli official said a fight broke out between two pilots. One was reportedly armed with a knife. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the incident was under investigation.
Around two and a half hours after leaving Dubai, the flight descended from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet in about a minute. Then, it made an erratic circle close to the Jordanian border and landed in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, about an hour later, according to Flightradar24. The airport in Tabuk reported that a FlyDubai flight made a distress call at 8:44 a.m. local time, before landing safely at 9:45 a.m.
As the plane began to dive, a passenger and a crew member broke into the cockpit, Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, citing a passenger he spoke to. Other crew members took over flying the plane. A spokesperson for Netanyahu’s office said around 160 people on the plane were from Israel.
Among the passengers who intervened were members of the Israeli security forces and air marshals, according to a person familiar with a probe by Saudi Arabia and regional partners. The person was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
FlyDubai confirmed that an “altercation occurred in the flight deck” and the aircraft was secured by on-duty crew “who diverted and landed the aircraft safely.” An official confirmed that Israel had scrambled warplanes, fearing a hijacking. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the incident was under investigation.
Video footage circulating on social media and reviewed by The Associated Press showed two men on the plane’s floor, bloodied and wounded.
Two people appeared to be providing medical treatment, while two others guarded the cockpit. “We are guarding the pilot,” one person said in Hebrew. In another video, passengers wept and cried out as the aircraft shook.
“We’re going to die,” passenger Naama Bershadski recalled of the incident. She said she closed her eyes and prayed for a good ending.
Passengers from the impacted flight finally landed in Israel on Wednesday (Sept. 30) evening to cheers at the airport. At the time, it was not clear what motivated the attack.
Those who intervened “saved many lives and prevented a major disaster,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. The minister added that Saudi Arabia arrested a pilot whose identity was not immediately shared by authorities. Saudi Arabia had no immediate comment.
The plane’s captain and first officer were injured, according to a statement by Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk, carried by state-run Alekhbariya television.
Passengers received medical attention from local authorities, according to a regional official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to brief the media.
Minister Netanyahu warned in recent days of unspecified, heightened security threats. The country is a week away from the anniversary of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which has triggered a series of wars. Also, the country is weeks away from an election.
