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The Israeli government believes an incident on a flight from the United Arab Emirates to Israel, which diverted to Saudi Arabia after transmitting emergency signals on Wednesday, may have been an attempted “terror attack” by one of the pilots, according to two Israeli officials.
The two Israeli officials said the co-pilot was believed to have stabbed the captain before cabin crew entered the cockpit and took control of the plane.
The two officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to brief reporters, said Israel’s current assessment is that the incident was an attempted “terror attack” and not related to any kind of mental health issue with either of the pilots.
Around the time the plane landed at Tabuk Airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia, Doron Spielman, a spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister’s office, told Reuters the incident was not believed to have been a hijacking, describing it as a “different incident.”
The office said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been briefed on the incident and was monitoring developments.
Tabuk Airport said that both pilots had been hospitalized after sustaining injuries.
FlyDubai Flight FZ 1073, from Dubai to Tel Aviv, diverted over Jordanian airspace toward Saudi Arabia, transmitting a general emergency signal and then another emergency signal that indicated possible unlawful interference several minutes later, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24.
The emergency signals triggered a major security response in Israel, which has no official diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, where the plane landed. The incident highlighted the potential risks on a route that has become popular among Israeli nationals since the U.A.E. and Israel normalized ties six years ago in 2020.
The aircraft’s data appeared to show that it had suddenly and rapidly descended by nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds before the first emergency signal, Flightradar24 said.
Israeli media reported that around 150 Israeli passengers were on board the Boeing 737 plane.
All passengers safe
An airline spokesperson said the FlyDubai flight experienced an “incident” en route to Tel Aviv and diverted to Tabuk, where it landed safely. All passengers were safe and accounted for, the spokesperson said, without providing any further details.
The U.A.E. had yet to comment on the incident.
Yasmin Abu Kasis said her daughter Miriam, who was among the passengers on the flight, had told her that she had heard screaming and that a man holding a knife had forced one of the pilots onto the floor, and that there was blood everywhere.
People sit in the cockpit of a FlyDubai 737 Max on display at Al-Maktoum International Airport during the Dubai Airshow in this Nov. 20, 2025, file photo. (Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images)
Israeli media published a photo purportedly taken from inside the plane, which appeared to show a passenger’s blood-soaked shirt. Reuters could not immediately verify the image.
In a statement, the Israeli prime minister’s office said the situation was “under control” and that all measures were being taken to bring the Israeli passengers back to Israel.
FlyDubai is the lower-cost sister carrier of Emirates airlines. It operates daily return flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv and normally uses airspace over Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
The low-cost carrier’s fleet relies entirely on variants of the 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle aircraft that is widely used by airlines around the world. It has nearly 100 of the planes, including 69 of the Max 8 variant.