Netanyahu says one pilot stabbed the other and "apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board"
Benjamin NetanyahuPrime Minister of Israel, in a video statement released by his office
In a video statement on September 30, 2026, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that one of the pilots of flydubai flight FZ1073 stabbed the second pilot and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board. He said an Israeli passenger told him the plane went into a spin and began to dive, and that the passenger broke into the cockpit with a crew member and together they neutralized the stabbing pilot "while he was trying to sabotage the plane's systems." He said another flight crew on board entered the cockpit and stabilized the plane, that the stabbing pilot was arrested and was being interrogated by Saudi authorities, and that he had instructed the security services to prepare for additional potential threats.
Responding to
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement on September 30, 2026 that one of the pilots of flydubai flight FZ1073 stabbed the second pilot and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board, and that an Israeli passenger told him the stabbing pilot was "trying to sabotage the plane's systems."
“During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the second pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board. ... while he was trying to sabotage the plane's systems.”
Original post
Original post
Original post
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Did a flydubai pilot try to crash Israel-bound flight FZ1073?
On September 30, 2026, flydubai flight FZ1073, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv, dropped sharply in altitude en route, transmitted emergency transponder codes and landed at Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. flydubai said an altercation occurred in the flight deck, and the Tabuk airport said both pilots were taken to hospital. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said one pilot stabbed the other and "apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board," and Defense Minister Israel Katz called the incident "an attempted jihadist terrorist attack." flydubai said the reasons and motives were unknown and subject to a formal investigation. The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority and Saudi Arabia's National Transport Safety Center opened investigations. As of September 30, 2026, no investigating authority had reported findings, and we did not locate a public report that anyone had been charged. The disputed claim is whether a pilot deliberately tried to crash the aircraft.
Source and context
Original post
About this source
The English-language account of the Prime Minister's Office posted the text of Netanyahu's video statement. He attributes the account that the pilot was trying to "sabotage the plane's systems" to an Israeli passenger he spoke with. The Hebrew audio of the video matches the English text.
Original post
About this source
Netanyahu's own account posted the video statement about 30 minutes before the Prime Minister's Office posted the English transcript. The post text is a one-line Hebrew introduction.
Original post
About this source
Netanyahu names the stabbed pilot as Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar and credits him with opening the cockpit door.
Reporting
About this source
The Guardian's live coverage. It gives an English translation of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's post and quotes passenger Miryam Shira Ohayon.
Before the quotation
The Prime Minister's Office said at 07:49 UTC that the incident was under control and that all measures were being deployed to return the Israeli passengers, without describing what happened aboard. flydubai's second statement, which an archive copy of its newsroom page shows by 13:21 UTC, described an altercation in the flight deck and said the motives were unknown. By about 13:40 UTC Israel Katz had called the incident "an attempted jihadist terrorist attack" in his own statement. Netanyahu's Hebrew-language post of the video appeared at 14:05 UTC and the English transcript at 14:35 UTC.
After the quotation
At 18:41 UTC Netanyahu posted in English that Captain Smit Machchhar, whom he called an Indian pilot, "fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door, and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker." At Ben Gurion Airport he met passenger Yaniv Hayun, and his office posted that he told Hayun: "You are a hero. You deserve a global medal of honor." As of September 30, 2026, we did not locate a Saudi statement confirming an arrest or describing questioning, and no investigating authority had reported findings.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The case asks whether a pilot deliberately tried to crash FZ1073. Netanyahu said the pilot "apparently tried to crash the plane," which asserts the proposition with the hedge "apparently." He attributed the account of what the pilot was doing to an Israeli passenger he had spoken with and did not cite an investigation. Under this case's reference point, an official asserting the attempt is labeled Condemned (an attributed accusation). The hedge and the passenger attribution are part of the record.
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More from this case
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“It seems as though the co-pilot was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job, and he stabbed the pilot. ... I don’t know if it’s true ... They said he wanted to crash. They don’t know that. They don’t know that kind of information.”Read statement
Aviation lecturer Marco Chan says "someone had to be pushing hard on the controls" but that a body falling against a column can also produce large inputs
“someone had to be pushing hard on the controls”Read statement
UAE aviation regulator calls FZ1073 a "security incident" under investigation and urges the public not to pre-empt the findings
General Civil Aviation Authority of the United Arab Emirates
“a security incident involving flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv has been brought under control ... its investigation teams, in coordination with the relevant authorities, are working to establish the cause and circumstances of the incident, including a review of operational and security aspects.”Read statement
Cite this record
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- The Dispute Index
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- Netanyahu says one pilot stabbed the other and "apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board"
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- https://disputeindex.com/events/3853-in-a-video-statement-on-september-30-2026
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "Netanyahu says one pilot stabbed the other and "apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board"". First published: 2026-09-30. Last updated: 2026-09-30. https://disputeindex.com/events/3853-in-a-video-statement-on-september-30-2026