Flydubai Co-Pilot Arrested After Stabbing Indian Captain and Trying to Crash Tel Aviv Flight, Israel Says

The emergency aboard flydubai flight FZ1073 was far more serious than first reported. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that the jet's co-pilot stabbed the captain and apparently tried to crash the Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight with everyone on board, before a passenger and crew members forced their way into the cockpit and overpowered him. The co-pilot has been arrested by Saudi authorities, where the plane landed safely at Tabuk. Earlier accounts, which we reported here, had described the incident as a fight between the pilots.

What happened in the cockpit

According to Netanyahu, the attack took place as the aircraft was approaching Israel. Flight-tracking data showed the plane plunging roughly 14,000 feet in less than a minute, consistent with an attempt to force it down. Netanyahu said an Israeli passenger told him the aircraft went into a spin and began to fall.

That passenger, together with a flight attendant, broke into the cockpit and restrained the co-pilot. Flydubai said the aircraft was secured by its own crew members who were travelling on the flight while off duty, and that one of them helped stabilise the jet so it could divert to Tabuk in north-western Saudi Arabia.

Israeli officials identified the co-pilot as an Omani national. The injured captain is an Indian national, according to Indian media reports. Both men were taken to hospital in Saudi Arabia, and the captain's condition had not been disclosed.

Israel calls it a terror attempt

Netanyahu hailed those who intervened as heroes who prevented a major disaster, and ordered Israeli authorities to tighten security on both Israeli and foreign airlines serving the country. Defence Minister Israel Katz went further, describing the episode as a thwarted jihadist terrorist attack and saying initial information pointed to a single intention: to bring down the aircraft with all its passengers.

Flydubai has been more cautious. The airline confirmed that everyone on board was safe and accounted for, but said the reasons and motives behind the event were not yet known and would be established by a formal investigation. Saudi investigators are now questioning the co-pilot.

Stranded passengers and next steps

Saudi Arabia declined an Israeli request to send military aircraft to bring the passengers home, according to reports. Flydubai said it had sent two replacement aircraft to Tabuk to carry them onward.

The case raises hard questions for an industry that has spent years hardening cockpit doors against intruders rather than threats from inside. Investigators will want to know how the co-pilot passed screening, whether there were warning signs, and how a passenger was able to reach the flight deck in time. For India, the focus will be on the welfare of the injured captain and on any consular role as the investigation proceeds in Saudi Arabia.

The incident comes at a tense moment in the region, with Israel heading into a general election and the wider US-Iran conflict continuing to disrupt air travel across the Gulf.

This is an original summary based on public reporting. See our editorial policy for how we source, write, and correct our stories.