FlyDubai Flight to Tel Aviv Diverts to Saudi Arabia After Violent Cockpit Struggle Between Pilots, Passengers Report Stabbing

A FlyDubai flight carrying roughly 180 people from Dubai to Tel Aviv was diverted to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after a violent confrontation broke out between the two pilots inside the cockpit, according to accounts from passengers, Israeli officials and flight-tracking data.

FlyDubai Flight FZ1073, a Boeing 737, landed safely at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport, known as Tabuk Airport, in northwestern Saudi Arabia. Both the captain and first officer were injured and taken to a hospital, according to Cluster2, which operates several Saudi airports. FlyDubai told NBC News the flight "experienced an incident while en route" and said it was working to secure a replacement aircraft while investigators look into what happened.

What the flight data shows

The aircraft transmitted squawk code 7700, a general emergency signal, according to flight-tracking site Flightradar24. It then briefly switched to code 7500, the international signal for unlawful interference, before reverting back to 7700, Flightradar24 reported. During that window, the plane dropped roughly 14,000 feet in under 30 seconds, per Flightradar24 data cited by both NBC News and Hindustan Times.

Express reported additional altitude detail, saying the jet fell from about 34,000 feet to 17,000 feet, partially recovered to 21,650 feet, then dropped again below 14,000 feet before leveling unsteadily around 15,000 feet for roughly an hour. Express, citing the Times of Israel, said the erratic pattern suggested the plane was being flown by hand rather than on autopilot. That specific detail has not been corroborated by FlyDubai or Saudi authorities.

What passengers say happened

Multiple passengers described screams, blood and a knife inside the cockpit. Yasmin Abu Kasis told The Associated Press and Reuters that her daughter Miriam, a passenger on the flight, heard screaming and was told a man had pulled a knife, forced a pilot to the floor, and that there was blood. Miriam told i24NEWS' Hebrew sister channel that passengers heard screams roughly an hour or two before landing, then saw "large amounts of blood" after the cockpit door opened, and said the plane "completely lost control for several minutes."

A passenger identified only as Noam told the Times of Israel that one pilot was "stabbed and seriously wounded" and that the plane "started to dive quickly." An unnamed woman told Channel 12, in an account carried by the Times of India and Hindustan Times, that someone "stabbed the pilot with a pocketknife." Passengers say Israeli travelers and crew, including a nurse and a doctor, helped restrain the person involved and treat the injured pilot. Channel 12 also reported that two additional off-duty pilots happened to be riding as passengers and helped prevent one crew pilot from taking control of the aircraft, though that account has not been independently confirmed.

Express reported, citing a single account, that the pilot involved is believed to be Russian and the other Ukrainian. No other outlet in this set corroborated the pilots' nationalities, and FlyDubai has not identified either crew member.

Hijacking attempt or pilot fight? Officials disagree

An Israeli official told i24NEWS that one pilot stabbed the other and attempted to take control of the aircraft, sending it into a dive of roughly 4,000 meters, and said investigators were examining whether the intent was to divert the plane to Israel, crash it, or carry out an attack resembling September 11, 2001. A senior Israeli official separately told Israel's Channel 12 that without the off-duty pilots on board, the incident could have ended like 9/11 or the 1976 Entebbe hostage crisis. Neither account has been independently verified.

A spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the incident was not believed to be a hijacking. Hebrew outlet Ynet reported that FlyDubai itself confirmed the 7500 signal was triggered by an altercation between the two pilots, not an outside attacker or passenger. A different Israeli official told Reuters only that the emergency codes followed a physical altercation between the pilots, without characterizing intent.

A 7500 code, a pilot bleeding from a knife wound, and a sustained loss of controlled altitude would trigger a serious security response anywhere in the world. Israel's military said it scrambled at least two fighter jets and had not ruled out terrorism. But the Prime Minister's office, the airline's own confirmation to Ynet, and a second named Israeli official all point toward a cockpit altercation between the two crew members rather than an outside hijacking plot. No group has claimed responsibility, and no charges have been filed against anyone as of Wednesday.

What's unresolved

Saudi and FlyDubai investigators are still examining what happened in the cockpit, and neither pilot has been publicly named. The motive behind the altercation remains unconfirmed. FlyDubai has not said whether the injured pilot survived his wounds or detailed the current condition of either crew member, and the images circulating of a blood-stained shirt have not been independently authenticated, according to Reuters. Until Saudi or UAE aviation authorities release findings, the central question of whether this was an attempted hijacking or a violent personal dispute between two men flying the same plane remains open.