Passengers, Crew Thwart Suspected Terror Attack on Dubai-to-Tel Aviv Flight
Passengers and the plane's crew are being hailed as heroes after helping to thwart a suspected terror attack mid-flight.
This comes after a Boeing 737 flight traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv is undergoing an investigation of a possible terror attack after a co-pilot stabbed the captain of the plane, and then attempted to crash the aircraft with 180 passengers onboard.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview that the attacker was being investigated in Saudi Arabia and believed he was going to be taken to the United Arab Emirates.
"We'll be following and possibly also participating in this investigation," Netanyahu said, according to The Jerusalem Post.
Israel's prime minister added that it was too early to determine if the incident had any trace of Iranian involvement.
“We'll get to the root of this attacker, whether he had accomplices, whether Iran was behind it. I think we'll find out very soon," Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu's comments come after a Flydubai Flight FZ1073 traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Sept. 30, 2026, the co-pilot allegedly attacked and stabbed the captain in the cockpit and then attempted to crash the plane, causing the aircraft to fall 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds, All Israel News reported.
“A struggle begins on the aircraft, and during it, it plunges 4,000 meters. The Israelis take control of him; there was another crew of pilots that assisted in taking control,” an Israeli source told i24 News.
“It is unclear what the pilot was trying to do — whether to hijack it to Israel, whether to crash it into the ground, or whether to carry out a 9/11-style attack. What is clear — he wanted to hijack the aircraft,” the source said.
Passengers and crew, however, thwarted the attacker after the captain managed to open the cockpit door despite being severely wounded.
Netanyahu called the passengers, pilot and crew's actions an "amazing act of heroism," adding that "they stopped a disaster that could've been global."
According to The Jerusalem Post, a dentist who was on board treated the captain and saved his life. After the situation was under control, the plane landed safely in Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk airport.
The attacker was later identified as an Omani national, according to an Israeli official on Wednesday.
Photo Credit: ©Erik Marmor/Getty Images
Originally published October 01, 2026.
