Public disputes about what happened aboard or to an aircraft, what investigators have found, and how airlines, regulators and governments have responded to in-flight incidents.
Published coverage on this page: 1 case · 3 statements. Statements are ordered newest first.
Israeli officials say a flydubai pilot tried to crash flight FZ1073 on September 30, 2026. The airline says the motives are unknown and urges against speculation. As of that date, no investigating authority had reported findings on what happened in the flight deck.
Published
Read the caseLabels describe a response to the linked claim or the action explained in the statement summary. Choose one or more.
3 matching statements
Role at the time: President of the United States, answering reporters' questions in the Oval Office
Statement summary
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on September 30, 2026, President Donald Trump said he had spoken with Prime Minister Netanyahu at length about the flydubai incident and that "it seems as though the co-pilot was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job," and that he stabbed the pilot. He relayed an account of an Israeli passenger who took the controls and said, "I don't know if it's true." He then said: "They said he wanted to crash. They don't know that. They don't know that kind of information."
“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.”
What this label refers to
The case asks whether a pilot deliberately tried to crash FZ1073. Trump said "They said he wanted to crash" and then "They don't know that," which treats the crash intent as unestablished. He said his account came from Netanyahu and others and did not say who had made the claim that the co-pilot wanted to crash. He also said the co-pilot was "perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job" and that he stabbed the pilot. We labeled it Mixed or conditional because the statement relays the account that the co-pilot wanted to crash and also says its basis is not known.
Role at the time: Senior lecturer in aviation operations at Kingston University and former airline pilot, quoted by CNN
Statement summary
Marco Chan, a senior lecturer in aviation operations at Kingston University, told CNN that "someone had to be pushing hard on the controls" during the descent of flight FZ1073, likely resulting in a physical "tug-of-war" because the plane's two flight control columns are mechanically linked. He added that "a body falling against a column can also produce large inputs." He said the rate and gradient of the descent suggest the aircraft "very likely" went beyond its maximum operating speed, and that investigators will likely examine the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder first to see each pilot's control inputs and what was said on the flight deck.
“someone had to be pushing hard on the controls”
What this label refers to
The case asks whether a pilot deliberately tried to crash FZ1073. Chan said the descent indicates sustained pressure on the controls and likely a physical struggle over them, but he also said a body falling against a column can produce large inputs. He did not say any input was deliberate or that the pilot intended to crash the plane, and he pointed to the recorders for evidence on control inputs. We labeled it Mixed or conditional because the statement supports a struggle over the controls without deciding whether any input was deliberate.
Role at the time: Spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office of Israel, speaking to NBC News
Statement summary
NBC News reported that Doron Spielman, a spokesperson for Israel's Prime Minister's Office, said "there is a strong opinion" that the incident aboard flydubai flight FZ1073 was a terror attack (NBC's paraphrase), "but we can't be sure until we debrief everybody." NBC did not give the time of the remark.
“there is a strong opinion ... but we can’t be sure until we debrief everybody.”
What this label refers to
The case asks whether a pilot deliberately tried to crash FZ1073. As NBC reports it, Spielman described a prevailing view that the incident was a terror attack, which implies deliberate intent, and made the conclusion depend on debriefing everyone. NBC's report does not show that he spoke specifically about a crash attempt, so this label is narrower than the Condemned labels we gave Katz and Netanyahu. We used Mixed or conditional because an express condition qualifies the view.
Marco Chan is a senior lecturer in aviation operations at Kingston University in London and a former airline pilot. He teaches commercial pilot training and writes and comments publicly on aviation safety.
1 case and 1 statement
Bezalel Smotrich is an Israeli politician, a member of the Knesset and chairman of the Religious Zionism party. He has served as Israel's finance minister since 2022.
1 case and 1 statement
Israel Katz is an Israeli politician and a member of the Knesset for the Likud party. He has served as Israel's minister of defense since November 2024. Earlier he held ministerial posts including foreign affairs, finance, transportation, energy and infrastructure, intelligence and agriculture.
1 case and 1 statement
Benjamin Netanyahu is an Israeli politician who leads the Likud party and has served as prime minister since December 2022. He previously held that office from 1996 to 1999 and 2009 to 2021, and served as Israel's ambassador to the United Nations from 1984 to 1988 and finance minister from 2003 to 2005.
1 case and 1 statement
Donald Trump is the 45th and 47th president of the United States. Before entering national politics, he worked in real estate development and entertainment.
1 case and 1 statement
Itamar Ben-Gvir is an Israeli politician, a member of the Knesset and chairman of the Otzma Yehudit party. He was first elected to the Knesset in 2021 and is Israel's minister of national security.
1 case and 1 statement
