The 174 passengers on the Flydubai flight from Dubai-Tel Aviv on Wednesday morning, when the aircraft transmitted a distress code indicating a hijacking, lost altitude rapidly, and suddenly changed course, heading toward Saudi Arabia, while Israeli fighter jets took off as a precaution. Ultimately, the aircraft landed safely at Tabuk Airport.

The initial suspicion of a hijacking was quickly ruled out, with initial reports indicating that a violent altercation between the two pilots had caused the commotion. The reports were confirmed shortly after the plane landed by passengers who were on board and described what happened during the critical moments of the flight.

One of the female passengers, speaking to Israeli media, described the dramatic moments inside the cabin.

READ ALSO: Hijacking alert on flight to Tel Aviv was a false alarm; pilots argued, causing commotion

“We heard screams inside the plane. Then (passengers) opened the cockpit door, and we saw blood. Someone stabbed the pilot with a small knife,” he said.

As he explained, passengers and crew members managed to subdue the attacker, while during the incident the passengers prayed, fearing that the flight would end in tragedy. “We prayed; there were moments when we thought we wouldn’t make it out of this alive,” he said, adding that the Israeli passengers helped subdue one of the pilots along with crew members. “We prayed; there were also moments when we thought we wouldn’t make it out of there alive.”

The first photos leaked from the Flydubai flight show a passenger with blood on his shirt following the reported violent incidents in the cockpit.

First images from @flydubai flight: one of the passengers with blood on his shirt https://t.co/zfJ4UsDeaO pic.twitter.com/XDLzuz0DbE

— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) September 30, 2026

Another woman described the scenes of terror, saying: “Screams broke out on the plane… from passengers who realized what was happening. We understand that one of the pilots was stabbed and seriously injured, and they lost control of the plane. It began to plummet. It was very terrifying.”

Some unconfirmed reports circulating in Jewish media, based on testimonies from passengers on the plane, stated that one pilot was of Russian descent and the other of Ukrainian descent, and that, in fact, one of them attempted to crash the plane and was prevented from doing so by the second pilot, with the help of the passengers.

The emergency and the aircraft’s flight path

Flydubai Flight FZ 1073 took off from Dubai International Airport at 7:05 a.m. bound for Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, where it was expected to arrive around 9:30 a.m.

About an hour and a half after takeoff, while the aircraft was in Jordanian airspace, it initially transmitted the international emergency code 7700 and then code 7500, which is used internationally for hijacking incidents.

At the same time, the aircraft began a sharp change in course, losing significant altitude  (17,400 feet—from 34,000 to approximately 16,600 feet—in just two minutes) and heading toward Saudi Arabia. Its temporary disappearance from flight-tracking apps caused even greater concern.

An “airplane hijacking” alert was issued

after the pilots of a passenger plane flying from the United Arab Emirates to Israel got into a fight It was reported

that a Flydubai passenger plane operating the Dubai-Tel Aviv route issued an emergency and hijacking alert while in the air The plane was over Jordanian airspace… pic.twitter.com/ELUYi80gNf

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— Anadolu Agency (@anadoluajansi) September 30, 2026

Israeli fighter jets took off – Netanyahu calls emergency meeting

After the alarm signals were activated, Israeli authorities were put on high alert. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz convened an emergency security meeting, while the relevant agencies conducted situation assessments.

The Israeli military announced that the Chief of the General Staff conducted a situation assessment with the participation of the Air Force Commander, the head of military intelligence, and other senior officers.

The Prime Minister’s Office stated that “the incident is under control” and that all available forces are working to ensure the safe return of the Israeli passengers.

Flydubai refers to a “violent incident” on the aircraft

Shortly after the aircraft landed safely in Tabuk, Flydubai announced that the emergency signal had been activated due to an incident inside the plane.

According to the company, a violent altercation occurred between crew members, leading to the activation of emergency procedures.

The company announced that it has launched an investigation into the incident and that an aircraft will be dispatched from Dubai to Saudi Arabia to pick up the passengers and continue the journey to Israhel.

Following the emergency landing of the Dubai–Tel Aviv flight in Saudi Arabia, the airline sent a second aircraft to Tobruk Airport to transport the passengers on the remainder of their journey to Israel.

Source: Proto Thema