flydubai has announced the temporary suspension of flights to and from Israel as an investigation continues into a security incident on flight FZ1073, which was travelling from Dubai International Airport to Ben Gurion Airport on 30 September 2026 before being diverted and making an emergency landing at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia.
flydubai suspends flights and opens official investigation
The airline said the suspension would remain in place while the relevant authorities worked to establish the circumstances of the incident, stressing that the safety of passengers, crew members and its operations was its priority. It added that it was fully supporting the investigation and co-ordinating with government bodies, regulatory authorities and the airports concerned, and would review the decision as new information became available.
flydubai said a confrontation had taken place inside the aircraft’s cockpit before members of its crew who were travelling on the flight managed to secure it, divert its course and land safely in Tabuk. It said all passengers and crew members had been accounted for and were safe. The airline had initially described the incident as an accidental occurrence requiring the aircraft to be diverted to Tabuk as a precautionary measure.
UAE authority confirms injuries among crew members
It said the causes and motives remained unknown and were subject to an official investigation, urging people to avoid speculation and drawing conclusions before the facts had been fully established. The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that the flight had experienced a security incident that was brought under control, and that some crew members had been injured and taken to a hospital in Saudi Arabia for treatment.
It added that the investigation was being conducted in co-ordination with the relevant authorities and included a review of the operational and security aspects of the incident. flydubai sent two replacement aircraft to Tabuk to carry the passengers and replace the crew, prioritising the completion of the passengers’ journey to Tel Aviv and providing them with support.
Passengers arrive after aircraft diverted to Tabuk
The passengers arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on a replacement aircraft more than 10 hours after their original flight landed in Saudi Arabia. According to Israeli officials, the incident began when the co-pilot stabbed the pilot inside the cockpit, before the aircraft descended sharply by about 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds.
The officials said passengers and crew members entered the cockpit and restrained the co-pilot, enabling other flydubai pilots who were on the flight to take over the controls and land the aircraft in Tabuk.
Netanyahu describes incident as attempt to bring down aircraft, with serious consequences for civil aviation safety
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the incident as an extremely serious security event and said the aircraft was carrying 174 people, most of them Israelis. He accused the co-pilot of attempting to bring down the aircraft, but flydubai and the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority did not announce a final finding on the motive for the incident, stressing that it would be determined by the official investigation.
A spokesman for Netanyahu said the injured pilot, identified by the Israeli prime minister’s office as Smit Matchar and said to be an Indian national, managed to open the cockpit door despite his injuries. He added that passengers who entered the cockpit found the co-pilot hitting the aircraft’s control panel.
An Israeli official said the suspected co-pilot was an Omani national, while differing media accounts circulated in the first hours after the incident about the pilots’ nationalities and the nature of the event. The airline did not confirm the suspect’s nationality and reiterated its call not to circulate unofficial information before the investigation had concluded. Netanyahu said Saudi authorities would question the suspect and that he had spoken to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan about the incident.
He added that, according to his account, the UAE had agreed to allow Israel to participate in questioning the suspect. Saudi authorities did not announce details of the investigation. Tabuk airport said the pilots were taken to hospital after being injured.
In Israel, emergency services said they had treated three passengers for minor injuries, while the ambulance service said a 51-year-old man had been taken to hospital with an injury to his upper body and described his condition as minor. Several passengers recounted how they intervened on the aircraft. Passenger Assaf Ragwan, who was among those involved in restraining the suspect, said he had acted instinctively to save his daughter and family.
Passenger Yaniv Hayon also said he entered the cockpit with others and saw someone attempting to tamper with the controls, before crew members took control of the aircraft. Israel announced tighter security screening procedures for pilots arriving in the country following the incident.
A spokesman for Netanyahu said the authorities would seek to establish the identity of every pilot travelling to Israel and subject them to a form of security screening. flydubai operates daily flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv and began operating commercial flights on the route in November 2020 after diplomatic relations were established between the UAE and Israel. The airline said the incident had not affected its schedule on the rest of its network.
