The 174 passengers on a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv endured a frightening ordeal on Wednesday morning, when the aircraft sent an emergency code signalling a hijacking, lost height sharply and abruptly changed course towards Saudi Arabia. Israeli fighter jets took off as a precaution. The plane eventually landed safely at Tabuk Airport.

An Israeli official told the Israeli news channel N12 that authorities are examining a possible terror attack, saying a “major disaster” had been averted. “There are more and more indications that the pilot wanted to take control of the aircraft and crash it with the passengers on board,” the official said. Accounts differ over which of the two pilots was the aggressor, and Flydubai has not commented on a possible terror motive.

The initial hijacking theory was quickly dropped, with early reports pointing instead to a fierce fight between the two pilots that caused the alarm. Shortly after the plane landed, passengers on board confirmed this and described what happened during the critical minutes of the flight.

The aircraft left Dubai International Airport at 7.05am and was due to arrive at Ben Gurion Airport around 9.30am. About an hour and a half into the journey, over Jordanian airspace, it transmitted the international emergency code 7700 and then 7500, the signal for a hijacking. It lost roughly 17,400 feet in two minutes, dropping from 34,000 to around 16,600 feet, before turning towards Saudi Arabia. It briefly disappeared from flight-tracking apps, which heightened concern. Tracking data showed the plane then struggled to hold a steady altitude for around an hour, suggesting it was being flown by hand rather than on autopilot.

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz called an emergency security meeting. The military said the chief of the General Staff had assessed the situation with the head of the air force, the head of military intelligence and other senior officers. Netanyahu’s office said the incident was “under control” and that all available forces were working to return the Israeli passengers safely. Israeli officials and defence sources later ruled out a hijacking.

🇮🇱🇦🇪✈️WATCH: Terrifying footage of the incident, recorded from a passenger window aboard the aircraft #flydubai .

– Yedioth Ahronot News.

:This incident happend because one pilot was Russian and another one is Ukrainian, both started fight in the cockpit, lol🥲🚨 https://t.co/SS9vuZEMXv pic.twitter.com/ZqyxjPreRW

— World_Breaking_News03 (@Breaking2003) September 30, 2026

Flydubai said the distress signal was triggered by a violent altercation between members of the crew. It said all passengers were safe and accounted for, and that it had opened an investigation. The airline has sent a second aircraft from Dubai to Tabuk to carry the passengers on to Israel. Authorities were expected to question the crew and inspect the plane.

Birleşik Arap Emirlikleri'nden İsrail’e giden yolcu uçağının pilotları kavga edince “uçak kaçırıldı” alarmı verildi

🚨 Flydubai'ye ait Dubai-Tel Aviv seferini yapan yolcu uçağının havada acil durum ve kaçırılma ihbarında bulunduğu bildirildi

⚠️ Uçak, Ürdün hava sahası üzerinde… pic.twitter.com/ELUYi80gNf

— Anadolu Ajansı (@anadoluajansi) September 30, 2026

Passengers gave dramatic accounts to Israeli media. One woman said: “We heard screams on the plane. Then (passengers) opened the cockpit door and we saw blood. Someone stabbed the pilot with a small knife.” She said passengers and crew members managed to restrain the attacker, and that people prayed throughout. “There were moments when we thought we wouldn’t come out of this alive,” she said.

Another woman said the screaming began as passengers realised what was happening. “We understand that one of the pilots was stabbed and seriously injured, and they lost control of the plane,” she said. “It started to plunge. It was very frightening.” A further passenger told i24NEWS that a doctor and a nurse on board gave first aid to the injured pilot.

A violent altercation and stabbing in the cockpit of a FlyDubai flight over Saudi Arabia this morning caused the 737-8 to plummet 18,400 feet in just under two minutes, exceeding its maximum operating speed by nearly 100 kts.

The aircraft landed safely in Tabuk. pic.twitter.com/POg0WCN1WS

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) September 30, 2026

Passengers posted videos on social media from inside the cabin, in which screams can be heard. The first photographs to emerge show a passenger with blood on his shirt.

Unconfirmed reports in Israeli media, based on passenger testimony, said one pilot was of Russian origin and the other of Ukrainian origin. They also claimed that one of the two tried to crash the aircraft and was stopped by his colleague with the help of passengers. Neither Flydubai nor the authorities have confirmed this.