October 1, 2026 09:00 AM PST
(PenniesToSave.com) – Yaniv Hayoun walked through the arrivals gate at Ben Gurion International Airport on Wednesday evening still wearing a bloodstained shirt. Hours earlier, the Israeli plumber had helped pull a suspected attacker out of a jetliner’s cockpit, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was waiting to embrace him [1][5].
The flight, FlyDubai FZ 1073, was a Boeing 737 Max 8 traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30, 2026 [1][2][4]. About two and a half hours into the trip, the first officer allegedly stabbed the captain, and the aircraft plunged thousands of feet as passengers screamed [1]. Travelers forced their way into the cockpit, the jet was stabilized, and it landed in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, at 9:45 a.m., roughly an hour after a distress call [1].
Netanyahu said 174 people were aboard [1]. The Jerusalem Post, as cited by Fox News, reported that more than 100 of them were Israeli [4]. The co-pilot has not been publicly identified, and no formal charges have been reported [1][2]. Officials still disagree on why it happened. Witnesses, however, broadly agree on what the passengers did next.
Quick Links
- What Happened in the Cockpit Over the Jordanian Border?
- How Did Passengers Get Into the Cockpit?
- Who Brought the Plane Back Under Control?
- What Do Officials Say About the Motive?
- How Did the Region Respond?
- What Does This Incident Mean for Air Travel?
What Happened in the Cockpit Over the Jordanian Border?
The trouble began near the Jordanian border, roughly two and a half hours after departure [1][4]. Several outlets report that the first officer attacked Captain Smit Machchhar with a knife inside the flight deck [1][2][5]. Both the Israeli and Indian governments identified Machchhar, an Indian national, and praised his conduct [2]. Netanyahu said the captain, though seriously wounded, fought back and alerted the cabin, and credited him with saving everyone aboard [1][2].
Accounts differ on what the co-pilot did after the stabbing. One passenger, who was not named, told Fox News that the co-pilot appeared to fall across the controls and that the instrument panel went dark [4]. Hayoun described a different scene, saying he saw the co-pilot at the controls apparently trying to destroy them [1][5]. Netanyahu said the attacker was trying to sabotage the aircraft’s systems [2][4]. Investigators have not publicly resolved which account is accurate.
Flight-tracking data reported by Fox News shows the jet broadcasting emergency code 7700, briefly switching to 7500, the code for unlawful interference, and then returning to 7700 [4]. A person who heard the radio traffic told the Associated Press that the pilot’s voice was trembling as he called mayday, reported a hijacking, and asked for ambulances [1].
Inside the cabin, passengers described screaming, overhead bins falling open, and the power cutting out [4]. Passenger Almog Italie recalled a sudden drop lasting 20 to 30 seconds, a brief leveling, and then a second drop of about 10 seconds [1][4]. Passenger Naama Bershadski told the AP she closed her eyes and prayed, certain everyone would die [1]. Mika Bauman told CNN she was sure she was going to die as well [6].
How Did Passengers Get Into the Cockpit?
The response started with a shout. A passenger saw one pilot stab the other and called for help, and Hayoun and several others pushed toward the front of the plane, according to Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 as reported by the AP [1]. Hayoun, who was seated just behind business class, told The Free Press that the plane began losing altitude and rolling from side to side as he moved forward [5].
How the group got through the cockpit door depends on who is telling the story. Netanyahu credited Machchhar, saying the injured captain opened the door himself [1][2]. Hayoun told reporters in Israel that the door apparently was not locked and that the hardest part was the wounded pilot on the other side of it [1]. In a separate account to The Free Press, he said he opened the door with help from another crew member [5].
Once inside, Hayoun said he put the co-pilot in a chokehold and dragged him out of the cockpit [5]. Another passenger in the struggle, Tzvika Manes, told Channel 12 that it took many minutes to subdue the man [1]. Hayoun’s wife, Meital, said the group first tied him up with headphones and later found zip ties [5]. Hayoun said he and three other Israelis then guarded him for the rest of the flight [5].
Dentist Shota Musayev told journalists the passengers believed they had only seconds to act, and that they spread people through the cabin in case a second attacker was aboard [1]. According to a person familiar with a probe by Saudi Arabia and regional partners, members of Israeli security forces and air marshals were among those who intervened [1]. Musayev then turned to the wounded captain, who he said prayed the entire time and stayed in contact with him [1]. Hayoun said Machchhar had been stabbed multiple times and that passengers kept him alive until landing [5].
Most of these people had no training for a moment like this. A plumber and a dentist made split-second decisions, and neither waited for someone else to take charge.
Who Brought the Plane Back Under Control?
Hayoun said that after the co-pilot was pulled away, he went back into the cockpit and grabbed the controls as the plane dove [5]. The BBC reported that he pulled the controls backward to arrest the nosedive [3]. Hayoun said his only reference point was the television series Mayday, known outside the United States as Air Crash Investigations, which examines real aviation disasters [5].
I jumped back in there, grabbed the controls, started pulling the controls.
Yaniv Hayoun, speaking to The Free Press [5]
Hayoun said the aircraft began to level out and that a pilot then told him he would take over, though he did not specify which pilot [5]. From there, accounts of who landed the plane diverge. FlyDubai said on-duty crew traveling aboard the flight secured the aircraft and landed it safely [1][4]. The New York Post reported that two off-duty pilots aboard helped control and land the jet [5]. Passenger Dan Zoler told NPR that another pilot on the plane took the controls [2], and Yasmin Abukasis told Fox News that her daughter described two other pilots taking over [4]. Fox News and an Israeli government photo caption spell the passenger’s surname Hayun [4].
Reports of the descent differ as well. Citing Flightradar24, the AP reported a drop from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet in about a minute [1]. NPR, also citing Flightradar24, reported a loss of more than 14,000 feet in under 30 seconds [2], while Reuters, as cited by Fox News, put the figure at nearly 14,000 feet [4]. The New York Post, citing Israeli media, reported about 18,000 feet in two minutes [5], and the BBC reported 17,000 feet in under two minutes without naming a source [3].
The AP reported that the dive ripped most of the rudder from the tail, and former United Airlines pilot Steve Arroyo said he was amazed the jet did not come apart [1]. Former federal crash investigator Jeff Guzzetti said that at that rate of descent, the plane may not have been able to level out had it fallen below 10,000 feet [1].
What saved them is there was enough altitude left for them to recover.
Jeff Guzzetti, former NTSB and FAA crash investigator [1]
What Do Officials Say About the Motive?
Israeli officials moved quickly toward a security explanation. Defense Minister Israel Katz characterized the incident as an attempted jihadist terror attack, without providing supporting details [2][4]. Katz said preliminary information indicated the attacker intended to crash the plane with everyone on board [4]. Two Israeli officials told Reuters, as cited by Fox News, that Israel’s assessment was that it may have been an attempted terror attack [4]. The Jerusalem Post reported a growing view within the IDF, Mossad, and Shin Bet that the incident was intended as terrorism [4].
Other accounts point elsewhere. A regional official briefed on the incident described an altercation in the cockpit that apparently involved the two pilots, and Israeli media citing security officials reported a dispute between them [4]. Fox News noted that cockpit fights, while rare, have happened before, pointing to two Air France pilots who were suspended in 2022 after fighting during a flight from Geneva to Paris [4].
FlyDubai has declined to name a cause. The airline said the underlying reasons and motives are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation, and it urged all parties to avoid premature speculation [2][4]. The UAE’s civil aviation authority and Saudi authorities have opened their own investigations [1][2].
Custody has not been fully confirmed either. Netanyahu said Saudi Arabia arrested the co-pilot [1][2], and a U.S. official told Fox News the alleged attacker was taken into custody after landing [4]. Saudi Arabia had not immediately confirmed the arrest [2].
The timing drew attention. Netanyahu had warned of unspecified heightened security threats in recent days [1][4]. Israel is one week from the anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack and less than a month from a national election [1][2]. None of the reporting establishes a link between those events and the flight.
How Did the Region Respond?
Israel scrambled fighter jets amid fears of a hijacking, according to an official who spoke to the AP [1]. The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli airspace was temporarily closed until the aircraft landed [4]. Netanyahu convened security consultations and cleared his schedule to manage the crisis, according to Reuters as cited by Fox News [4].
Finding a runway was not simple. A person who heard the flight’s communications told the AP that Saudi Arabia initially denied clearance and directed the plane toward Jordan, where it was told to wait for military clearance and was then turned away [1]. The pilot returned to Saudi airspace and said he had to land in Tabuk. Air traffic controllers gave no reason for the earlier refusals [1].
Saudi Arabia has no formal diplomatic ties with Israel, but it ended its ban on Israeli flights crossing its airspace in 2022 and has since coordinated emergency landings for Israeli passengers, including a 2023 case involving an electrical malfunction [1]. After this landing, passengers stayed aboard while a heavy Saudi security presence surrounded the aircraft, according to accounts given to Channel 12 and reported by Fox News [4].
Cluster2, the company that manages Saudi airports, said both pilots were being treated in a hospital [2]. The Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia said Machchhar was in stable condition [1], while the New York Post later described his condition as unknown [5].
Diplomatic contacts followed. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he spoke with his UAE counterpart, and the two agreed to work together against extremist elements seeking to destabilize the region [1]. In Washington, President Donald Trump praised Hayoun from the Oval Office, describing him as a plumber who had rarely flown [5].
What Does This Incident Mean for Air Travel?
The most immediate effect is on the route itself. FlyDubai, the lower-cost sister carrier of Emirates, suspended flights to and from Israel while the investigation proceeds [1][2]. Flights between Israel and the UAE run several times a day, and the UAE has become a popular destination for Israeli vacationers since the two countries normalized relations in 2020 [1][2]. The airline has not announced when service will resume.
The airline did move quickly for the stranded passengers. FlyDubai said it sent two replacement aircraft to Tabuk and that its other scheduled operations were unaffected [4]. Passengers were back in Tel Aviv that same evening, where families waited with balloons and flowers [2][4].
The harder questions concern the flight deck. Reinforced cockpit doors are meant to keep threats out, but in this case the danger allegedly began inside. Hayoun said the door apparently was not locked when passengers reached it [1]. Transponder data showing a switch to the unlawful interference code suggests someone in the cockpit was able to signal the crisis to the ground [4].
Israel’s own history offers perspective. Palestinian militants targeted Israelis in a string of hijackings and airplane attacks in the 1960s and 1970s, and the country has not experienced a hijacking in decades while maintaining some of the strictest airport security in the world [1][4]. Airport screening is only one layer of protection, however, and this incident allegedly involved a credentialed crew member already at the controls. What ultimately protected the passengers on FZ 1073 was a wounded captain, a handful of quick-thinking travelers, and enough altitude to recover.
Final Thoughts
The investigation into FlyDubai flight FZ 1073 is still in its earliest stage. The co-pilot has not been named, no charges have been reported, and officials offer competing explanations, ranging from a dispute between pilots to an attempted terror attack [2][4]. Key details, including who opened the cockpit door and who landed the plane, still vary by source [1][2][5].
What is not in dispute is how people responded. A captain who had been stabbed alerted the cabin [1][2]. Passengers with no aviation training forced their way forward, restrained the suspect, cared for the wounded, and watched the cabin for a second threat [1][5]. A plumber who learned about flight controls from a television show pulled back on the yoke as the jet dove [3][5].
Security systems matter, and so do the ordinary people who refuse to sit still when those systems fall short. The 174 people aboard went home Wednesday night in large part because several of them chose to act.
Works Cited
[1] Magdy, Samy, et al. “Copilot Stabs Captain on Flight to Israel before Passengers Storm Cockpit and Stabilize Jetliner.” AP News, 30 Sept. 2026, apnews.com/article/israel-saudi-arabia-dubai-emergency-landing-fd1835479898f2f944792913af7cbce6.
[2] Lonsdorf, Kat, and Aya Batrawy. “On Flight to Israel, Pilot Is Stabbed, Plane Plunges before Passengers Tackle Attacker.” NPR, 30 Sept. 2026, www.npr.org/2026/09/30/nx-s1-5985806/flydubai-flight-dubai-tel-aviv-israel.
[3] “‘I Pulled the Controls’: Passenger Tells Israeli PM How He Helped Stop Attacker.” BBC News, 30 Sept. 2026, www.bbc.com/news/videos/c6rered722j5o.
[4] Betz, Bradford. “Flydubai Passenger Says Co-Pilot Stabbed Captain before Terrifying Plunge, Emergency Landing.” Fox News, 30 Sept. 2026, www.foxnews.com/world/flydubai-pilots-reportedly-fight-cockpit-triggering-hijacking-fears-israeli-fighter-jet-response.
[5] Reyes, Ronny, and Ella Morrison. “Hero Israeli Passenger Reveals He Saved Flydubai Flight Thanks to Popular TV Show, as He Meets Netanyahu Still Covered in Blood.” New York Post, 30 Sept. 2026, nypost.com/2026/09/30/world-news/flydubai-passenger-still-covered-in-blood-meets-netanyahu-as-passengers-arrive-in-israel-after-hijacking-attempt/.
[6] “Flydubai Passenger: ‘It Was like a Death in Front of Our Eyes Moment.'” CNN, 30 Sept. 2026, www.cnn.com/2026/09/30/world/video/flydubai-passenger-israel-bauman-diamond-latam-intl.