Israeli PM: Too early to determine motive in foiled Dubai-Tel Aviv flight attack

A Flydubai aircraft carrying 174 people from Dubai to Tel Aviv descended into chaos two and a half hours into its flight when a co-pilot stabbed the captain and, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, attempted to crash the plane. The aircraft, flight FZ1073, had taken off from Dubai International Airport at 3:05 GMT on a Wednesday morning bound for Ben-Gurion Airport in Israel. Around the two-hour mark, flight tracking data showed the plane dropping more than 17,000 feet in less than two minutes over Saudi Arabian airspace—a plunge that sent passengers and crew into immediate crisis.

The captain, identified as Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, was stabbed during the attack but remained conscious enough to fight back. Passengers and crew members burst into the locked cockpit to find the assailant attempting to disable the aircraft. One passenger, Yaniv Hayun, described the moment: the stabbed pilot was positioned near the door, making it difficult to force entry, but before Machchhar collapsed from his injuries, he managed to open it himself. Hayun then placed the attacker in a chokehold while other passengers helped restrain him. Another passenger, Zvika Meness, recalled that they bound the man using his own zip ties and multimedia headphones.

Two on-duty Flydubai crew members who were traveling as passengers took control of the aircraft and stabilized its descent. The plane signaled a hijacking code—squawk 7500—before looping back toward Saudi Arabia. It made an emergency landing at Tabuk airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia less than an hour after the initial codes were transmitted. The attacker was arrested immediately upon landing. Machchhar, despite being seriously wounded, was hospitalized in stable condition. His actions—fighting back despite his injuries, opening the cockpit door, and enabling the crew to regain control—drew immediate praise from Netanyahu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who called him a hero.

The 174 passengers, almost all Israeli, were eventually repatriated to Tel Aviv on Wednesday evening. Video footage from Ben-Gurion Airport showed them arriving to crowds playing music, singing, and waving flags. Paramedics noted that many were visibly emotional, some crying as they disembarked. One passenger, Hayun, met with Netanyahu and recounted how he and others had physically restrained the attacker and even pulled the aircraft's controls to help level it out before another pilot took over.

What remains unclear is the motive behind the attack. Netanyahu told Fox News it was too early to determine why the co-pilot acted as he did. When asked whether Iran was involved, Netanyahu offered only: "It's too early to say." The attacker is being investigated in Saudi Arabia, with Netanyahu indicating he expected the man would eventually be transferred to the United Arab Emirates for further questioning. Netanyahu said Israel had received no advance warning of the incident and that Israeli security forces would maintain close contact with relevant authorities. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz called it an "attempted jihadist terror attack," though he provided no supporting details. U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking with Netanyahu after the incident, suggested the attacker might be "perhaps a terrorist" or that other motives were at play. The investigation is ongoing, with Netanyahu saying Israel would be "following and possibly also participating" in determining what lay behind the attack.