180 passengers arrive safely in Israel after DM Katz affirms incident investigated as ‘jihadist terrorist attack’
Netanyahu salutes ‘heroes who prevented a huge disaster’, first indications point to lone-wolf attacker
After a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv almost crashed and was forced to conduct an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after one of the pilots attacked his colleague, Defense Minister Katz affirmed that Israel is treating the incident as an “attempted jihadist terrorist attack” on Wednesday evening.
Shortly afterward, the about 180 passengers, almost all of them Israeli citizens, arrived safely in Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport after being picked up in Tabuk by another plane of the flydubai airline which had operated the original flight.
In the afternoon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed most of the known details surrounding the incident, praising the passengers as “heroes, who displayed exceptional resourcefulness and courage. They saved many lives. They prevented a huge disaster.”
“During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the second pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board,” the prime minister stated.
Israeli courage in action. 🇮🇱
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) September 30, 2026
Thanks to the extraordinary courage of Israeli passengers and the Emirati crew, the flight landed safely at Ben Gurion Airport .
🎥 @itsmezina__ pic.twitter.com/g83NmAk6Jw
“I spoke with one of the Israeli passengers. He told me that the plane went into a spin and began to dive. He told me that, somehow or other, he managed to break into the cockpit with one of the crew members, and that together they neutralized the stabbing pilot while he was trying to sabotage the plane's systems. Another flight crew on board entered the cockpit and managed to stabilize the plane.”
Netanyahu also noted that “The stabbing pilot was arrested and is currently being interrogated by the Saudi authorities... I have instructed the security services to prepare for additional potential threats. We are holding ongoing situation assessments, and we will update you as the situation develops.”
According to several media reports, the attacker, whose Omani origin has not been officially confirmed so far, was taken to a hospital and is now being investigated by Saudi authorities.
I24 News reported that the initial assessment by the Israeli security establishment points toward a lone wolf attacker, though a possible Iranian involvement is also being investigated. The report also noted the serious concern about possible copy-cat attacks in the near future.
Mohsen Rezai, the Iranian regime’s Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, mocked Saudi Arabia after the incident, writing on X: “Just as hosting U.S. military bases has not brought you security, hosting the ‘Butcher of Gaza’ will also not have favorable consequences. Learn from the last war, stop igniting wars, and cease issuing baseless claims regarding the Iranian islands!”
The incident came at a time when relations between Israel and its Abraham Accords partner, UAE, had already been tense, following reports that Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed had warned Netanyahu ahead of Oct. 7, and a subsequent, initially secret visit by the Israeli prime minister.
The stabbed pilot of flydubai flight FZ 1073, who helped prevent its hijacking by the co-pilot, is Indian Captain Smit Machchhar, who is based in Dubai, not an Emirati pilot as originally described by Israeli officials. https://t.co/dpr1SKkQJW pic.twitter.com/GgsyMxS2wY
— Ariel Oseran أريئل أوسيران (@ariel_oseran) September 30, 2026
Contrary to initial reports, Israeli media said that the second pilot who was stabbed by the attacker wasn’t Emirati but Indian, identifying him as Captain Smit Machchhar.
A security source told Army Radio in the evening that the Shin Bet, the Mossad, the National Security Council and the Ministry of Transport are working to submit recommendations for safety measures to ensure the return of Israelis who are on vacation in the United Arab Emirates or landed on flights from other destinations in Dubai.
Meanwhile, Israel and the UAE agreed on new security measures to ensure the continuation of flights between Israel and Dubai, according to Channel 12 News. The Israeli airline El Al later announced that it would resume daily connections to Dubai, presumably due to the higher security standards on Israeli airlines. Over the past few months, flydubai had been the only connection between Tel Aviv and Dubai.
“Flydubai and Etihad are the only two airlines in the world that continued flying to Israel even during the most difficult times,” noted Amir Hayek, Israel’s first ambassador to the Emirates.
“The UAE and the airline deserve for us to set aside speculation and allow them to thoroughly investigate what actually happened. I trust them,” he wrote on X.
Netanyahu reportedly discussed the incident on the phone with the President of the UAE, Mohamed bin Zayed, and was due to speak with U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday evening.
In his own statement, Defense Minister Israel confirmed the reports pointing toward a terroristic motivation for the incident. Initial reports had suggested a violent dispute between the pilots or a possible suicide attempt by the pilot without a terror connection.
“The serious incident on the FlyDubai aircraft was an attempted jihadist terrorist attack, thwarted only thanks to the bravery of several Israeli passengers who broke into the cockpit, subdued the terrorist, and with their own hands restored control of the aircraft to an additional crew of pilots who were present there,” said Katz.
“According to the initial information in our possession, the terrorist had one intention: to crash the aircraft with all its passengers. When the Prime Minister and I issue intelligence-based security warnings and alerts, it would be advisable for everyone — both our enemies from the outside and the uninformed have-beens within — to listen and take them seriously. Every warning has multiple addresses and targets.”
“And most importantly: the warnings never come at the expense of the proactive and offensive activity that we are leading together with the IDF against every threat — and they are not a substitute for it,” Katz added.
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