{"id":4007,"date":"2026-09-30T23:52:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T18:22:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/?p=4007"},"modified":"2026-09-30T23:52:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T18:22:25","slug":"israeli-pm-says-pilot-tried-to-crash-dubai-tel-aviv-flight-after-stabbing-captain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/?p=4007","title":{"rendered":"Israeli PM says pilot tried to crash Dubai-Tel Aviv flight after stabbing captain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"450\" height=\"305\" data-id=\"4008\" src=\"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/International-7.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4008\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/International-7.png 450w, https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/International-7-300x203.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Jerusalem\/Dubai, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that a pilot aboard a Flydubai flight carrying mostly Israeli passengers stabbed the other pilot and apparently tried to crash the plane before passengers and crew subdued him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The aircraft landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a video statement, Netanyahu said the suspected attacker had been arrested and was being questioned by Saudi authorities, Xinhua news agency reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said that Israel was in continuous contact with &#8220;the relevant authorities&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Describing the incident as &#8220;extremely serious&#8221;, the Israeli Prime Minister noted that the aircraft went into a spin and began plunging as it approached Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said an Israeli passenger and a crew member broke into the cockpit and subdued the attacking pilot as he tried &#8220;to sabotage&#8221; the aircraft&#8217;s systems, while flight crew members took control of the plane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tzvika Mens, who said he helped overpower the attacker, told Israeli state-owned Kan TV news from aboard the plane that he and two others restrained the attacker using the cords from complimentary headphones provided to passengers on the flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A replacement Flydubai aircraft was preparing to depart for Israel, but the flight was delayed because some passengers were refusing to board out of fear, according to Mens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz described the incident as a &#8220;jihadist terror attack&#8221; in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Israeli security agencies were on high alert and instructed to prepare for &#8220;possible additional threats&#8221;, according to Netanyahu&#8217;s office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Flydubai flight FZ1073 had plunged nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds before transmitting emergency signals, according to flight-tracking data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Israeli officials earlier said the co-pilot was believed to have stabbed the Captain in a possible attempted &#8220;terror attack&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both pilots were hospitalised after the plane landed, Tabuk Airport said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A flydubai spokesperson confirmed that the flight &#8220;experienced an incident&#8221; while en route.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The aircraft later landed at Tabuk Airport, and all passengers are &#8220;safe and accounted for,&#8221; according to the spokesperson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jerusalem\/Dubai, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that a pilot aboard a Flydubai flight carrying mostly Israeli passengers stabbed the other pilot and apparently tried to crash the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4008,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,3,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-display","category-international","category-top-news","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4007"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4009,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4007\/revisions\/4009"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}