GeopoliticsDeveloping story

A wounded captain opened a door, and four passengers went through it

Flydubai FZ1073 left Dubai for Tel Aviv at 3.05am on Wednesday carrying more than 170 people. Two and a half hours later it dropped more than seventeen thousand feet in under two minutes over Saudi Arabia, squawked the code for unlawful interference, and landed at Tabuk. What prevented a catastrophe was not a system. It was a stabbed pilot reaching the cockpit door release, four passengers breaking in, and a second crew who happened to be travelling as passengers.

By Muhammad MehdiPublished 3 October 2026 at 13:00 UTC· Updated 3 October 2026 at 13:00 UTC· 3 min read

Flydubai FZ1073 left Dubai International at 3.05am GMT on Wednesday for Tel Aviv, carrying more than 170 people. Netanyahu said almost all of them were Israeli.

Two and a half hours later the Boeing 737 MAX dropped more than 17,000 feet in under two minutes over Saudi Arabia, signalled a general emergency, and then switched to the transponder code for unlawful interference. It looped through Jordanian airspace, returned to Saudi Arabia, and landed at Tabuk airport at 6.58am.

What stopped it was not a security system. The captain, an Indian pilot named Smit Machchhar, was stabbed and somehow reached the cockpit door release from inside. Four passengers broke in. A second Flydubai crew who were travelling on the same flight as passengers took the controls and landed the aircraft.

What the passengers said

President Isaac Herzog's office identified the sequence. An Israeli woman on board, Tali Manes, heard a commotion from the cockpit and alerted other passengers. She and three men, named in the statement as her husband Zvika Manes, Yaniv Hayun, Dr Shota Musayev and Asaf Rajuan, went forward.

Hayun, who was met by Netanyahu at Ben Gurion, said the attacker was trying to destroy the instruments in order to disable the plane. He described putting the man in a chokehold and pulling him out of the cockpit, then taking the controls himself. Zvika Manes told Israeli public broadcaster Kan that the group tied the attacker up with his own zip ties and with multimedia headphones.

One detail deserves emphasis. The crew who stabilised the aircraft were off-duty Flydubai pilots travelling as passengers, and they did not take over until after the passengers had already flown the aeroplane.

Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at the London-based StrategicAero Research, called the event unique in exactly that respect. He said it was frightening to think of what the outcome would have been if those additional pilots were not there to take control.

The certification question

Flydubai is a UAE operator and its certification and safety oversight sit with the UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority. The standard framework requires a valid professional pilot's licence, the appropriate type rating, a current Class 1 medical certificate, English language proficiency and required flight experience. The Class 1 medical covers physical and mental health, and pilots with relevant psychiatric conditions, substance misuse or other specified concerns can be referred for further assessment.

Ahmad's assessment of that system was favourable and qualified at the same time. Pilot vetting is very thorough, he said, from security and financial checks to mental health evaluation, but those checks are a single snapshot in time and will never uncover whether a person has issues that then manifest in the workplace or flight deck.

That is the sentence the history of this kind of accident supports. In 2015 the first officer on Germanwings flight 9525 locked the captain out and flew an A320 into the French Alps, killing all 150 aboard. France's Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses found that the medical certification system had failed to prevent a pilot experiencing a serious mental disorder from exercising his licence.

Netanyahu said Israel had no warning and no advance intelligence about this incident. Asked by Fox News whether there was any indication of Iranian involvement, he said it was too early to say. On Thursday he added that after being subdued the man called out to kill me, kill me, and that the attacker had undergone what he called Islamist radical indoctrination.

No charge has been filed. The UAE's Attorney General, Hamad Saif al-Shamsi, ordered prosecutors to examine the circumstances and motives, including any connection to terrorist activity and whether there was prior planning or direction. Flydubai said the motives remained unknown and warned against premature speculation, and suspended flights to and from Israel.

A claim circulating in Israeli media, attributed to Transport Minister Miri Regev, that an agreement with the UAE restricts which nationalities' pilots may land in Israel, could not be verified.

What Israel has committed to is narrower and checkable: a spokesman for the prime minister's office said every pilot flying into the country will be identified and security checked.

Frequently asked questions

What happened on Flydubai flight FZ1073?

The Boeing 737 MAX took off from Dubai International at 3.05am GMT on Wednesday 30 September for Tel Aviv Ben Gurion, carrying more than 170 people. About two and a half hours later it descended rapidly over Saudi Arabia, losing more than 17,000 feet in under two minutes, then signalled a general emergency before switching to the squawk code for unlawful interference. It briefly entered Jordanian airspace, returned to Saudi Arabia, and landed at Tabuk airport at 6.58am. A repatriation flight brought the passengers back to Tel Aviv that afternoon.

Who was arrested and what have authorities said about motive?

A co-pilot was taken into custody by Saudi authorities after the emergency landing and is being questioned. Prime Minister Netanyahu said the man was an Omani national and would likely be returned to the Emirates after interrogation, and that Israel expected to follow and possibly participate. The UAE's Attorney General, Hamad Saif al-Shamsi, ordered prosecutors to examine the circumstances and motives, including any possible connection to terrorist activity and whether there was prior planning or direction. Flydubai said the motives remained unknown and warned against premature speculation. No charge has been filed.

How did the passengers get into the cockpit?

According to a statement from the office of President Isaac Herzog, an Israeli woman on board, Tali Manes, heard a commotion from the cockpit and alerted other passengers. She and three other men entered after the injured captain, Smit Machchhar, managed to open the door from inside. Yaniv Hayun steadied the controls, Dr Shota Musayev gave medical treatment to the captain, and an on-duty Flydubai crew who were travelling as passengers then took control and landed the aircraft.

What has been changed as a result?

Flydubai suspended flights to and from Israel while the investigation continues, and Israeli authorities said they would increase security checks on pilots flying into the country. A spokesman for the prime minister's office said: Every pilot that is going to be flying into Israel, we are going to know the pilots' identities, know who they are, and do some type of security check.

Sources

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