A Plane Headed to Israel Landed Suddenly in Saudi Arabia. Here's What Happened

Flydubai flight FZ 1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on September 30, 2026, after a fight between the pilots raised fears of a hijacking.

The plane, a Boeing 737 Max 8 with up to 180 people on board, turned to Tabuk Airport in northwest Saudi Arabia while over Jordan. Tabuk Airport, code TUU, said the Tel Aviv-bound flight landed at 9:45am local time. Flydubai said the flight was headed to Ben Gurion Airport and landed safely in Tabuk on Wednesday. Images from Flightradar24 showed the sudden turn The Guardian.

The crew sent three emergency calls, one for possible unlawful interference, the code for a suspected hijacking. Tracking data cited by Israeli and international media showed the plane fell about 16,000 feet in two minutes during the reported fight. Israel sent up fighter jets because dozens of Israelis were on board and officials feared a hijacking.

Emergency over Jordan

What happened in the cockpit is not agreed. Tabuk airport said only that the captain and co-pilot were hurt and taken to hospital. Flydubai said all passengers on flight FZ 1073 are safe and accounted for.

Israeli media reported that passengers rushed into the cockpit to stop an attacker and that one pilot was badly hurt. Photos in Israeli media showed a person on the flight with blood on his shirt.

A passenger account given to the Jerusalem Post said one pilot stabbed the other pilot and tried to force him out of the cockpit. Yasmin Abu Kaiss told Reuters her daughter on the flight described screaming, a man with a knife holding a pilot down on the floor, and blood near the cockpit. An Israeli official told the Jerusalem Post that a pilot stabbed his co-pilot and tried to hijack the Tel Aviv-bound flight, and that a "major disaster" was avoided. That account said more than 100 Israeli passengers were on board.

Israeli officials said they are checking if one pilot tried to crash the plane to kill himself before crew stopped him. The same officials said they are checking if this was an attempt to attack Israelis.

Conflicting accounts in Israel

Israel's prime minister's office said the situation was under control, that steps are being taken to bring passengers to Israel, and ruled out a hijacking The Guardian.

Haaretz, quoting an unnamed official, reported authorities were treating it as a terror incident and thought one pilot may have tried to crash the plane on purpose. National security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called it a terrorist attempt to blow up the plane and murder 180 Israelis on board. Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said anyone who tried to bring down the plane and murder 180 Israelis should pay as though they had murdered them.

The broader context for the different words is the law. A hijacking decision is about unlawful seizure of the plane, while a criminal or terror case about a pilot's actions can run at the same time.

Israeli authorities have not shared the identities, nationalities, or work records of the crew, or details from the cockpit voice and flight data recorders, the boxes that save cockpit sounds and flight movements.

Days before, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had warned of signs an attack would happen during Israel's October elections. The Israeli military, as quoted by Israeli media, said it had no intelligence that an attack on Israel was being planned.

Military chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir put off his planned trip to the U.S. next week over the incident. He was to meet the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and the head of U.S. Central Command.

A test for Riyadh

The passengers are now stuck in a country with which Israel has no diplomatic relations. The Israeli Air Force was waiting for permission from Saudi Arabia to fly them back to Israel.

Flights between Dubai and Israel began after the countries normalised ties in 2020. Saudi airspace is now a normal path for those flights, but landing Israelis in Saudi Arabia for processing and onward travel is different. In 2025, Israel landed a plane in Riyadh because of a medical emergency, a small earlier example of working together without formal ties.

The broader context here is difficult diplomacy. Riyadh will control access to the plane, the crew, and the investigation on its land. Jerusalem must bring home more than 100 citizens without normal embassy channels. The airline, a carrier from the United Arab Emirates flying between two Abraham-era partners, is in the middle, responsible for passengers, crew, and plane.

What to watch next is simple. Who keeps the recorders. Whether Saudi officials give their own report on the injuries and what happened over Jordan. Whether Israel keeps the prime minister's office line of no hijacking, or agrees with officials talking of attempted mass murder. And how fast Riyadh allows an Israeli military flight to pick people up.

The facts so far show a sharp fall over Jordan. Why the fight started is still not known.