Passengers restrained a flydubai co-pilot who allegedly stabbed the pilot and tried to crash a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday.
Netanyahu described the incident aboard flight FZ1073 as “a highly severe security incident” and said the alleged assailant was arrested after the aircraft landed safely in Saudi Arabia.
An Israeli official identified the co-pilot as an Omani national. Saudi authorities are expected to interrogate him, according to Netanyahu.
“All passengers are out of harm's way,” Netanyahu said in a video statement released by his office, describing almost all those on board as Israeli.
Netanyahu, quoting a passenger, said passengers and a crew member broke into the cockpit after the aircraft “entered a tailspin and began to dive”.
They found the co-pilot “trying to sabotage the plane's systems”, he said.
Passengers then restrained the co-pilot, allowing other pilots to take control of the aircraft and land safely in Saudi Arabia, according to Netanyahu.
“They saved many lives. They prevented a heavy disaster,” he said.
Flight-tracking data from Flightradar24 appeared to show the Boeing 737 suddenly descending by nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds before transmitting its first emergency signal.
Israeli officials said the country's current assessment was that the incident was an attempted “terror attack” and was not related to a mental health issue involving either pilot.
Doron Spielman, a spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister’s office, initially said the incident was not believed to have been a hijacking, describing it as a “different incident”.
Flight FZ1073 was travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv when it diverted to Saudi Arabia while flying over Jordanian airspace.
The Boeing 737 transmitted a general emergency signal followed by another indicating possible unlawful interference, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24.
Data appeared to show the aircraft suddenly descending by nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds before the first emergency signal was transmitted.
It later stabilised and landed safely at Tabuk Airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia.
It remains unclear who activated the emergency signals.
Israeli media reported that around 150 Israeli passengers were on board.
The incident triggered national security consultations in Israel, which does not have official diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held security consultations and cleared his schedule for the rest of the day to manage the situation, according to an Israeli official.
The Israeli prime minister’s office said the situation was “under control” and that measures were being taken to bring the Israeli passengers home.
Flydubai has so far provided few details, saying only that the flight experienced an “incident” and diverted to Tabuk, where it landed safely.
The Dubai-owned airline said all passengers were safe and accounted for.
The UAE had not commented on the incident.
The incident comes days after Netanyahu met UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during a rare visit to the Gulf country.
Israel and the UAE have developed close security, military and economic ties since establishing diplomatic relations in 2020.
Earlier this year, Israel provided the UAE with Iron Dome air-defence systems and Israeli personnel to operate them, helping defend against Iranian attacks launched in retaliation for Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran.
Flydubai operates daily return flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv, with the route normally passing through Saudi Arabian and Jordanian airspace.
A flydubai flight on the same route made an emergency landing in Riyadh in September 2025 because of a medical incident, according to Israeli media.
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