Dubai–Tel Aviv flight: Netanyahu says, ‘The pilot wanted to crash the plane.’ Passengers have returned to Tel Aviv

Whilst investigations continue to establish who is responsible and to clarify the details of what the Israeli Defence Minister, Israel Katz, has described as an attempt at “jihadist terrorism”, the only certainty is that all passengers and crew members survived the incident. A return flight was arranged for the 174 Israeli passengers, including 27 children, which arrived in Tel Aviv at around 18:30 Italian time.

Further details regarding the circumstances of the accident are provided by the data relating to flight FZ1073.

The Boeing 737 Max 8, carrying around 180 Israeli passengers, had taken off from Dubai at 7.05 am local time, 5.05 am in Italia. At 9.21 am, the monitoring systems began to record fluctuations in the aircraft’s altitude and, one minute later, the aircraft lost around 14,000 feet – over 4,200 metres – in less than thirty seconds, in a particularly steep descent.

At 9.31, Saudi radar received an emergency signal from the Boeing. The aircraft initially transmitted the code 7700, used to signal a general emergency, before switching at 9.38 to the code 7500, associated with a possible hijacking, and subsequently returning to 7700.

The emergency and the change in call signs were detected by the Saudi, Jordanian and Israeli authorities. The aircraft was subsequently located in the vicinity of Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia, where it landed at around 10.45, which was 8.45 Italian time.

Il rientro a Tel Aviv

I passeggeri (174 tra cui 27 bambini) coinvolti in un atterraggio di emergenza in Arabia Saudita, durante un volo operato da FlyDubai, arrivano all’aeroporto internazionale Ben Gurion, nei pressi di Tel Aviv, in Israele, mercoledì 30 settembre 2026. (Foto AP/Ariel Schalit)

There have been numerous accounts from passengers who experienced moments of terror in the skies over Jordan. Among them, a passenger on the flight described scenes of chaos and a scuffle in the cockpit to Israeli television channel Channel 24, stating that for several minutes the passengers feared the plane might crash.

Miriam Ohayon, one of the passengers on the flight, said that those on board felt the aircraft lose control and that some passengers sprang into action. “We heard screams on the plane and, when they opened the cockpit, there was a lot of blood,” said Ohayon.

The woman’s mother, Yasmin Ohayon, reported that a passenger sitting next to her daughter was among the first to realise what was happening. On her way back from the toilet, she saw several people struggling inside the cockpit and alerted the other passengers. “Within a few minutes, our plane had completely lost control and we thought it was all over, that we were about to crash,” said Miriam Ohayon.

The passenger reported that some people on board had managed to subdue the attacker and that a nurse and a doctor on the plane had administered first aid to the pilot.

When asked how the passengers had managed to subdue the man, Ohayon replied: “I believe with their bare hands, inside the cockpit.”

The Israeli Prime Minister praised the courage of the passengers on board, emphasising that “these heroes have shown extraordinary presence of mind and exceptional courage”.

Defence Minister Katz also praised the passengers’ actions, stating that “the serious incident on the FlyDubai flight was an attempt at jihadist terrorism”.

The Israeli minister said the attack had been “foiled only thanks to the courage of a number of Israeli passengers who stormed the cockpit, overpowered the terrorist and, with their own hands, restored control of the aircraft to another member of the crew who was present”. Katz added that “according to the information in our possession, the terrorist had but one intention: to crash the aeroplane with all the passengers on board”.

Uomo ferito a bordo

CONTENUTO SENSIBILE. QUESTA IMMAGINE POTREBBE RISULTARE OFFENSIVA O DISTURBANTE - Passeggeri attorno a un uomo ferito a bordo dell’aereo della Flydubai diretto a Tel Aviv, costretto ad atterrare in Arabia Saudita il 30 settembre 2026. Si tratta del copilota omanino. Social media/via REUTERS

The Times of India has identified the captain who is said to have helped prevent the crash as Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian pilot based in Dubai. According to reports, Machchhar intervened to prevent the co-pilot, an Omani national, from taking control of the aircraft and attempting to cause it to crash.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed, following the suspected attack on the FlyDubai aircraft. This was reported by Ynet.

Flydubai has emphasised that “it is too early to determine the causes or reasons behind the incident”, which involved one of its aircraft, which was forced to make an emergency landing at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia.

According to the Emirati media, a Flydubai spokesperson explained that “the circumstances are not yet fully known and are the subject of an official investigation by the relevant authorities”, reiterating “full cooperation with the investigation to establish the details and causes of the incident”.

“When I went in, I saw the terrorist at the controls; there were no pilots sitting in the two seats. I grabbed the terrorist, pinned him down and started dragging him out.” This is what the passenger on the Flydubai flight – who was the first to storm the cockpit of the aircraft that was about to crash after the pilot had been injured – said during today’s meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion Airport.

According to a report in the Times of Israel, the Prime Minister then asked him what the attacker was doing: “‘He was trying to destroy the controls so he could disable the aeroplane’,” replied the passenger, explaining that he had then asked other Israelis on board the aeroplane to help him restrain the man so he could return to the cockpit, whilst the aeroplane was tilting sharply.

“I got back in, grabbed the controls and started pulling it,” he added, saying he’d learnt how to do it by watching “I Watch Mayday”, a documentary about air disasters.

“The plane began to level out a little, and at that point the pilot told me he would be taking control from then on”, he concluded.