- Flight FZ1073 took off from Dubai at 7:05 am and touched down at Tabuk around 9:45 am local time
- Netanyahu says the plane went into a spin and a dive before it was stabilised
- The co-pilot, reportedly Omani, was arrested by Saudi authorities
- The captain is reported to be Indian, though flydubai hasn't confirmed his name or nationality
- Both pilots were taken to hospital; no passengers were injured
- Motive is unknown, and officials are describing the event in very different ways
The flight left Dubai with somewhere between 174 and 180 people aboard, depending on which outlet you read. Nearly all were Israelis, Netanyahu said.
Roughly two hours in, as the Boeing 737 MAX 8 neared Israel, trouble started in the cockpit. Netanyahu, in a video statement, said one pilot stabbed the other and "apparently attempted to crash the plane with everyone on it."
Saudi airport officials logged a distress call at 8:44 am local time. The jet was down by 9:45.
Tracking data shows the aircraft falling fast from around 34,000 feet. How fast depends on the source. One report says about 16,000 feet in a minute. Another says 17,400 feet in two. Passengers who spoke to Israeli media described a plane that suddenly plunged.
The transponder squawked 7700 first, the general emergency code, then 7500, which signals unlawful interference. That second one is what set off the hijacking headlines. Flydubai and some outlets have since pushed back on the word, saying this was an altercation on the flight deck and not an outside takeover.
After the dive, the plane flew much lower, around 15,000 feet on average, for an hour or more before it reached Tabuk.
Netanyahu said he spoke with an Israeli passenger who broke into the cockpit alongside a crew member. The two of them subdued the pilot who'd done the stabbing, who was allegedly trying to sabotage the aircraft's systems at the time. A second crew member came in and steadied the jet.
Indian media tell it a little differently and give a lot of credit to the wounded captain. He's been named as Smit Machchhar, formerly of SpiceJet for about 11 years, with flydubai since 2022. That name has come out through Indian reports and sources. The airline hasn't put it on record.
Nobody who was in that room has given a full account yet. What's out there is mostly secondhand.
Saudi authorities detained the co-pilot after landing. Netanyahu said he was being questioned there. The operator of Tabuk airport confirmed both pilots were hospitalised with injuries, and the captain reportedly had stab wounds.
Israeli officials went hard on this one. CBS reported them calling it an attempted "jihadist terror attack." An Israeli security minister called the pilot a terrorist who wanted to kill everyone aboard. Netanyahu said he'd ordered the security establishment to get ready for possible further threats.
Flydubai has stayed narrow. Its statement confirms an "incident," a diversion, and that all passengers are accounted for. Deccan Herald reported it as a brawl between pilots and not a hijacking. The Aviation Herald wrote that the first officer is under investigation on suspicion of a suicide attempt, which is a very different picture from the terror one.
None of these versions has been confirmed by an investigating body.
Israel's transport minister, Miri Regev, wants flydubai barred from flying to Israel. The airline says it has opened an investigation and sent two replacement aircraft to Tabuk to collect passengers and crew. Israeli media reported a rescue flight carrying people from Saudi Arabia has since landed in Israel.
Flydubai started scheduled flights to Tel Aviv in November 2020, after the UAE and Israel normalised relations.
- Why the co-pilot did it, if the allegations hold up
- How long the fight lasted, and how close the jet came to being lost
- Whether off-duty pilots were among the passengers who helped, as some reports claim
- Which country will handle any prosecution, since the suspect is sitting in Saudi custody
Investigators will want the flight data, the cockpit voice recording and statements from everyone aboard. Regulators in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Israel are all likely to be asking questions.
