HEROES AT 34,000 FEET: Katz Says Israelis Stormed Flydubai Cockpit, Overpowered ‘Jihadist Terrorist’ Trying to Crash Plane
Defense Minister Israel Katz declared Wednesday that the terrifying midair attack aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073 was an “attempted jihadist terror attack,” saying several Israeli passengers forced their way into the cockpit, physically overpowered the attacker and enabled another flight crew aboard the jet to regain control before the aircraft could be deliberately crashed with 174 passengers aboard.
Katz’s statement represents Israel’s strongest official characterization yet of the extraordinary incident aboard the Boeing 737 MAX 8, which was flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv when violence erupted in the cockpit and the aircraft suddenly plunged thousands of feet before diverting to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
“The grave incident on the flydubai plane was a jihadist terrorist attack attempt, which was thwarted only thanks to the bravery of several Israeli passengers who broke into the cockpit, overpowered the terrorist and, with their own hands, restored control of the plane to another flight crew who was present there,” Katz said.
“According to the initial information in our possession, the terrorist had one intention: to crash the plane with all its passengers,” Katz added.
Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu also said Wednesday afternoon that Israel’s information indicated one pilot attacked the other as the aircraft approached Israel and apparently intended to bring down the plane.
“During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board,” Netanyahu said in a video statement.
Netanyahu hailed the passengers who intervened as “heroes” and said their actions “prevented a major disaster.”
The suspected attacker was arrested after the emergency landing and is being questioned by Saudi authorities, according to Netanyahu. Israeli security officials are working to determine whether he acted alone or had connections to a terrorist organization or another outside entity. Thus far, no evidence of an outside sponsor has been publicly disclosed.
Israeli reports have identified the alleged attacker as an Omani copilot. The captain who was stabbed has meanwhile been identified in Indian reporting as Smit Machchhar, an Indian national who has flown as a Flydubai captain since 2022. Flydubai itself has not publicly confirmed the pilots’ identities or nationalities.
The rapidly emerging passenger accounts paint a remarkable picture of what happened inside the aircraft.
Yitzhak Lieber, one of the Israeli passengers who helped during the emergency, recorded a message from aboard the plane saying that passengers had managed to overpower the knife-wielding attacker.
“We are on the flight from Dubai. We took control here of the attacker with a knife who stabbed one of the pilots. We simply jumped in and a few of us pulled them out of the cockpit. Everything is fine now. We are probably landing in Saudi Arabia. You can see that I am okay.”
“We will see what happens now. In just a few minutes we are landing. The terrorist has been neutralized.”
Lieber said passengers subsequently made certain that the cockpit was secured from the cabin.
“We made sure they closed the door.”
Another of the passengers now identified as having helped subdue the alleged attacker is Tzvika Manes, CEO of Barak Capital Underwriting, Bank Leumi’s underwriting arm.
Manes told Calcalist that his wife was near the cockpit because their daughter was using the restroom when she suddenly heard shouting coming from inside.
“My wife was standing near the cockpit because our daughter was in the restroom. Suddenly, she heard shouting coming from the cockpit. She yelled to a relief pilot from who was sitting nearby: ‘Go in quickly, see what’s happening.’”
“He called for help, and two other men and I entered the cockpit and subdued the attacker. I’m covered in blood. It was insane,” Manes said.
The presence of additional pilots aboard the flight may have proved critical. Israeli accounts indicate that at least two other qualified pilots were traveling as passengers or positioning crew members. Once the alleged attacker had been pulled from the cockpit, those pilots were able to help regain control and ultimately bring FZ1073 safely into Tabuk.
Manes said a physician aboard the aircraft immediately began treating the wounded captain.
“A doctor who was on board bandaged the pilot, treated him, and allowed the flight to continue,” he said.
Other passengers described the moments before the intervention as sheer terror.
Miriam, an Israeli passenger aboard the flight, said screams suddenly erupted near the cockpit approximately an hour or two before the scheduled arrival in Israel.
“About an hour or two before landing, we just started to hear screams from the plane. Someone started screaming… We just heard screams, and they opened the cockpit and saw large amounts of blood, from someone who had simply tried to murder the pilot and stabbed him with a pocketknife. Then the plane lost control.”
She said the aircraft’s movements left passengers believing they were about to die.
“We felt that this was it; we were about to crash. I was already screaming ‘Shema Yisrael’ and saying, ‘I can’t die, I’m my mother’s only daughter, I can’t do this to my mom.’”
Miriam credited Israelis aboard the aircraft with intervening and said medical professionals among the passengers rushed to help the injured pilot.
“Those who ultimately took control of the incident here were Israelis from the plane, who simply neutralized the terrorist. There was also a nurse here, and a doctor who provided first aid to the pilot. And thank God, there were several pilots on the plane, and they sort of took control of the plane, and in the end we made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.”
Importantly, Miriam herself cautioned immediately after the landing that passengers did not yet know the attacker’s motive.
“We don’t know yet. There is speculation that it might be someone from the flight crew. We really don’t know. At least, I don’t know.”
Asked how the man was overpowered, she said: “I believe it was with their own hands; I wasn’t in the cockpit.”
Flight data independently confirms that something extraordinary occurred aboard the aircraft. FZ1073 was cruising at nearly 34,000 feet when it suddenly lost an enormous amount of altitude, falling below 17,000 feet during the emergency before changing course toward Saudi Arabia.
The aircraft first transmitted transponder code 7700, signaling a general emergency. It then switched to 7500 — the internationally recognized code indicating unlawful interference, including a potential hijacking — before eventually returning to 7700.
Those signals triggered immediate alarm in Israel. Israeli fighter jets were scrambled as defense officials initially feared that an airliner carrying a large number of Israelis could have been hijacked and might be approaching Israeli airspace. Netanyahu and Katz convened security consultations while senior IDF officials conducted their own assessment.
The aircraft ultimately landed at Tabuk at approximately 9:45 a.m. local time. Saudi authorities confirmed that the captain and copilot were injured and taken to a hospital, while the passengers were brought into the terminal.
Flydubai has so far avoided endorsing Israel’s description of the episode as terrorism. The airline has publicly described it only as an unspecified onboard “incident.”
“Flydubai can confirm that flight FZ 1073 operating from Dubai International (DXB) to Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV) on 30 September experienced an incident while en route,” the airline said.
“The aircraft has landed safely in Tabuk Airport (TUU) and all passengers are safe and accounted for. The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew remain our highest priority.”
Saudi authorities likewise have not publicly characterized the episode as a jihadist attack. Their statements have confirmed the emergency landing and injuries to the two pilots while leaving the cause to investigators.
That makes Katz’s declaration significant: Israel’s defense minister is no longer describing the terrorist explanation merely as one possibility under investigation. He is publicly asserting, based on what he called Israel’s “initial information,” that the attacker intended to deliberately destroy the aircraft and kill everyone aboard.
Netanyahu similarly said Saudi Arabia has the suspect in custody and is questioning him. Israeli authorities are examining whether he acted independently and whether the Israelis aboard the Tel Aviv-bound flight were specifically targeted.
The drama also produced an extraordinary logistical problem after the survivors suddenly found themselves stranded in Saudi Arabia, a country with which Israel has no formal diplomatic relations. Flydubai dispatched another aircraft to Tabuk to bring them the rest of the way to Tel Aviv.
But the defining account to emerge from the incident is now the extraordinary intervention inside the cockpit: according to Katz, Israeli passengers realized that the aircraft itself was in mortal danger, broke into the cockpit while the jet was plunging, wrestled the alleged attacker into submission and handed control to other pilots aboard.
Had they failed, Katz said, Israel’s preliminary assessment is that the attacker intended to crash FZ1073 with everyone aboard.
