flydubai co-pilot allegedly planned to hijack Tel Aviv flight — AeroTime

In the UAE, a source familiar with the investigation into the incident on a flydubai flight said that the co-pilot allegedly planned earlier this year to hijack and crash an aircraft flying to Tel Aviv. As AeroTime reports, citing Reuters, he abandoned the plan because he knew someone among the passengers on board.

Reuters source data

Two Israeli officials also told Reuters that the co-pilot had allegedly been preparing the attack before being hired by the airline and had been looking for carriers operating flights to Tel Aviv. UAE authorities officially consider the incident a terrorist attack. The authorities have not publicly disclosed the co-pilot's identity or nationality, although media sources familiar with the investigation reported that he is an Omani citizen.

In-flight incident

On September 30, 2026, a flydubai Boeing 737 MAX 8 operating a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was diverted to Saudi Arabia after emergency transponder codes were transmitted. One of these codes is used to indicate unlawful interference with an aircraft.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

According to the outlet, the co-pilot attacked the captain with an emergency axe kept in the cockpit for emergency use. Despite a knife wound, the captain was able to open the cockpit door, after which passengers entered the flight deck and restrained the attacker. An additional flydubai pilot who was on board took control of the aircraft after it descended by more than 14,000 feet in approximately 30 seconds.

On October 3, UAE authorities said that the co-pilot began carrying out his plan during the flight: he attacked the captain in the cockpit with an emergency axe and attempted to take control of the aircraft. According to UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, the investigation, technical examinations, and analysis of physical and digital evidence are ongoing.