Flydubai suspended flights to and from Israel after a co-pilot allegedly stabbed the captain of a Tel Aviv-bound aircraft and tried to crash it on September 30, international media reports said.
Passengers and crew overpowered the alleged attacker, allowing another flight crew aboard Flight FZ1073 from Dubai to take control and land in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Israeli officials described the incident as an attempted terrorist attack.
Flydubai confirmed an altercation inside the cockpit but said investigators had yet to establish its cause or motive.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said initial information indicated that the alleged attacker intended to bring down the aircraft.
“According to the initial information in our possession, the terrorist had one intention: to crash the aircraft with all its passengers,” Katz said in a statement quoted by international media.
He credited Israeli passengers with entering the cockpit, restraining the suspect and enabling the additional crew to regain control.
His characterization of the incident as terrorism remained an Israeli government assessment while the investigation continued.
Transportation Minister Miri Regev called for Flydubai flights to Israel to be suspended and sought an investigation into whether the airline breached the aviation agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
Regev said the agreement required pilots operating flights into Israel to hold passports from countries that maintain diplomatic relations with it.
The demand followed reports identifying the suspected attacker as an Omani national. Oman does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
The reported nationality and alleged agreement violation had not been established as findings of the investigation.
Regev also sought the resumption of Israeli airlines’ flights to Dubai with Israeli security screening, according to international media reports.
Flydubai subsequently announced the suspension of its Israel services while authorities investigated the incident.
Inside the aircraft, the confrontation was followed by a loss of altitude. Flight data cited by international media showed the plane descending thousands of feet before control was restored.
Israeli officials said the injured captain opened the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to intervene.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu identified him as Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, and credited him with helping prevent a crash.
Flydubai confirmed that a replacement crew travelling aboard the aircraft diverted it to Tabuk and landed safely.
Both pilots were taken to hospital after landing, according to an airport statement. Netanyahu said Saudi authorities had detained the suspected attacker.
Passengers later continued to Israel aboard a replacement Flydubai aircraft, arriving on Wednesday evening.
Israel also announced plans to tighten checks on pilots operating flights into the country.
Katz linked recent government security warnings to intelligence assessments, but did not say whether authorities had received information about a threat involving Flydubai or this particular flight.
The airline urged caution as authorities worked to reconstruct what happened.
“At this early stage, the underlying reasons and motives behind this event are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation,” Flydubai said in a statement carried by international media.
