Flydubai has suspended all flights to and from Israel while authorities investigate a violent flight-deck incident aboard FZ1073, which diverted to Saudi Arabia while operating from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30.
The airline said the suspension was coordinated with the relevant authorities and would remain in place while the investigation continued. It did not provide a target date for resuming service.
“This temporary suspension will allow the relevant authorities to continue their work and establish all the facts surrounding the incident,” flydubai said in its series of official updates on FZ1073.
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The decision removes one of the most heavily scheduled links between the United Arab Emirates and Israel. Flydubai’s published timetable for the week of the incident showed as many as 10 daily departures from Dubai International (DXB) to Tel Aviv Ben Gurion (TLV), spread from early morning until evening.
Aircraft Secured by Additional Flydubai Crew
FZ1073 was operating from DXB to TLV when an altercation occurred in the flight deck, according to flydubai. The airline said on-duty flydubai personnel traveling aboard the flight secured the aircraft, diverted it and landed safely at Tabuk (TUU) in northwestern Saudi Arabia.
All passengers and crew were safe and accounted for after the landing. Flydubai dispatched two replacement aircraft to Tabuk to relieve those aboard the diverted jet.
The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority separately classified the event as a security incident. In a statement carried by the Emirates News Agency, the regulator said members of the aircraft crew were injured and taken to a Saudi hospital for treatment.
The GCAA said its investigation teams were working with other authorities to determine the causes and circumstances, including the operational and security aspects of the event. It urged against circulating unofficial accounts before the investigation establishes its findings.
Flight-tracking data identified the aircraft as A6-FKF, a Boeing 737 MAX 8. The jet was cruising at approximately 34,000 feet before the emergency developed, according to recorded flight data for A6-FKF. The aircraft transmitted the general emergency transponder code 7700 and subsequently code 7500, the code associated with unlawful interference.
The use of 7500 helps explain why the event initially generated a hijacking response. It does not, by itself, establish the motive of the person involved or provide a complete account of events in the cockpit.
LOOK AT THAT RUDDER: This is the damage from a sudden drop in altitude of Flydubai Boeing 737 MAX 8 flight FZ1073. The aircraft dropped from 30,875 feet to 16,750 feet—a loss of 14,125 feet in just 29 seconds. pic.twitter.com/XGRhXnnHuM
— Turbine Traveller (@Turbinetraveler) September 30, 2026
Israel Says Pilot Apparently Tried to Crash Jet
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said one pilot stabbed the other and “apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board.” His account went substantially further than the initial statements from the airline and the UAE regulator.
In an official statement issued by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu said he had spoken to an Israeli passenger who described the aircraft entering a dive. The passenger and a crew member entered the cockpit and subdued the pilot accused of carrying out the stabbing, Netanyahu said.
Another flydubai flight crew traveling aboard the aircraft then entered the cockpit and stabilized the jet, according to the Israeli account. Netanyahu said the accused pilot was arrested after landing and was being questioned by Saudi authorities.
The airline has not adopted Israel’s characterization of the episode as an attempted crash or hijacking. Flydubai said the reasons and motives remained unknown and subject to a formal investigation, and it urged all parties to avoid premature speculation.
That distinction is important. The airline has confirmed a flight-deck altercation, intervention by additional crew and an emergency diversion. The GCAA has confirmed a security incident and injuries among the crew. The account of a deliberate attempt to destroy the aircraft remains an allegation by the Israeli government pending the investigative findings.
Boeing 737 MAX 8 Is Central to Flydubai’s Fleet
The aircraft involved was from the largest subgroup in flydubai’s all-Boeing 737 fleet. The airline’s current fleet information lists 69 Boeing 737 MAX 8s, alongside Boeing 737 MAX 9s and Next-Generation 737-800s.
The MAX 8 provides the range and economics flydubai uses to connect Dubai with a broad mix of regional and longer thin routes. On the relatively short DXB-TLV sector, its value lies less in maximum range than in fleet commonality, capacity and the ability to operate multiple daily rotations through the Dubai hub.
Nothing in the official statements points to an aircraft technical failure as the initiating event. The investigative focus described by flydubai and the GCAA is on the flight-deck altercation, the security circumstances surrounding it and the response that brought the aircraft safely to Tabuk.
Suspension Disrupts a High-Frequency Market
Flydubai’s timetable illustrates the immediate scale of the operational response. The airline had scheduled departures throughout the day between Dubai and Tel Aviv, making the route a significant local market as well as a feed channel into flydubai and Emirates connections at DXB.
The suspension therefore affects more than point-to-point passengers. Customers using Dubai to connect between Israel and destinations in Asia, Africa and the wider flydubai network will require alternative routings, while the airline must reaccommodate travelers across a large number of canceled sectors.
Flydubai said it was supporting affected passengers and arranging alternatives where possible. It will review the suspension as more information becomes available from government authorities, regulators and airport stakeholders.
Bottom Line
The safe outcome depended on having qualified flydubai personnel traveling aboard the aircraft who could take control after the cockpit was secured. Positioning crew is routine airline activity, but their presence on FZ1073 provided an additional layer of operational resilience in an event that appears to have incapacitated or compromised the operating pilots.
The investigation will have implications beyond the timing of flydubai’s return to Israel. Regulators will need to establish how a weapon entered the flight deck, whether existing crew screening and access controls functioned as intended, and how the cockpit door was opened during the emergency. The sequence of the 7700 and 7500 transponder selections will also form part of the reconstruction of who retained control at each stage.
Flydubai’s suspension is a containment measure rather than a finding about motive. The next significant developments will be the GCAA’s account of the cockpit sequence, any action taken against the accused pilot and the security conditions attached to restoring one of the airline’s highest-frequency regional routes.
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