Skip to content
A short overview of events, with location, time and sources.
Vidik. Medijski signal: jak.
bssrhren
All events
Infrastructure
Strong signal67 / 100Media signal is not an assessment of danger.

Passengers describe overpowering attacker on FlyDubai flight that landed in Tabuk

started September 30, 2026 at 9:15 AM · last changed 11d ago

Summary

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu met passenger Yaniv Hayoun and identified the stabbed pilot as Smit Machchhar of India, following the FlyDubai flight incident that made an emergency landing in Tabuk; Hayoun described pulling the attacker from the cockpit and taking the controls, while the wounded co-pilot reportedly resisted and helped passengers subdue him.

This summary was written by a language model from the 83 sources listed below.

Extract from the source

Posada na letu kompanije Flydubai je jutros objavila sigurnosno upozorenje o otmici aviona nakon što su se dvojica pilota potukla, javlja Jerusalem Post. Prvobitno je

Main source

09:09 AMAnadolija (Anadolu Agency, BS)Open the original

Locations

  • Saudijska Arabija · Country

    Stories remain readable without map marks. A known country does not establish nationwide applicability.

Places mentioned in the report

Most listed places are mentioned only as the flight's origin (Dubai), destination (Tel Aviv), emergency landing site (Tabuk) or as countries of involved individuals and observers (Israel, Oman, Jordan, US, India, Iran), while Riyadh, Serbia, Gaza, Jerusalem, Lod, New York City and Zagreb are not directly connected to the incident itself.

  • where it happenedSaudijska Arabija - the plane made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia

Timeline

  1. Let kompanije Flydubai iz Dubaija za Tel Aviv, s više od 150 putnika, nakratko je emitovao kod koji ukazuje na otmicu nakon čega je izraelsko ratno zrakoplovstvo podiglo borbene avione, javljaju izraelski mediji koje prenose regionalni portali. Avion je prinudno sletio u Saudijskoj Arabiji, u Tabuku, a prema navodima izvora do uzbune je došlo zbog fizičkog obračuna dvojice pilota u pilotskoj kabini.

    Start

  2. New reports add that the incident, per Ynet and an Israeli official cited by Reuters, was caused by a physical fight between the two pilots in the cockpit, and give technical details on the sequence of alert codes (7700, then 7500) and the flight number FZ1073.

    Tabuk · 4 sources

  3. New reports add that the aircraft was a Boeing 737 and was diverted via Jordanian airspace toward Saudi Arabia, sending two separate signals -- first a general distress alert, then a possible-hijack code, according to Flightradar24 data. They also note all passengers were reported safe and that Tabuk airport is a civil-military base.

    Tabuk · 4 sources

  4. New reports add details of the altercation: an Israeli official said the co-pilot is suspected of trying to seize control to crash the plane, while passengers describe a stabbing and blood in the cockpit and say crew and passengers restrained one pilot. Israeli media also cite unverified claims about the pilots' nationalities (Russian captain, Ukrainian first officer), which Flydubai has not confirmed.

    Tabuk · 4 sources

  5. New reports add that Israeli officials suspect an attempted terror attack by one of the pilots, that passengers witnessed blood and screaming from the cockpit, that control was taken over by an improvised crew of civilian pilots, that a second Flydubai flight (FZ1081) also turned back with no confirmed link, and that opposition leader Yair Lapid accused the government of "cheap politics."

    Tabuk · 4 sources

  6. New reports add Netanyahu's confirmation that the suspected pilot was arrested and is being questioned by Saudi authorities, and that a passenger and crew member subdued him. They also add passenger accounts of the captain's injury, a dentist's role in helping him, and a claim the clash was between a UAE co-pilot and an Oman-origin captain.

    Tabuk · 3 sources

  7. New reports identify the stabbed pilot as Smit Machchhar of India and add passenger Yaniv Hayoun's account of pulling the attacker from the cockpit and taking over the controls.

    Tel Aviv · 3 sources

Each entry’s time is when Vidik recorded the change, in the order reports arrived. Entries are written by a language model from the reports new in each interval; once written, they are never changed.

Sources (83)

83 reports · 22 sources

A headline and an extract of at most 25 words. The full text is never published; every source is named and linked.

Severity
Severity67

Total — strong signal (40–69)

Vidik measures media signal intensity. It does not predict events and it does not assess danger. Methodology

Report an error in this event