A Flydubai Boeing 737 operating flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel-Aviv was forced to divert toward Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, September 30, after a sudden drop in altitude and a physical altercation in the cockpit triggered emergency transponder codes, according to reports from Reuters and Ynetnews.
Flight FZ1073 Drops 14,000 Feet Over Jordan
Flight data from Flightradar24 shows the Boeing 737 lost nearly 14,000 feet—amounting to more than four kilometers—in less than 30 seconds while flying over Jordanian airspace. Roughly 90 minutes after departing Dubai International Airport at 7:05 a.m., the aircraft encountered severe distress during its scheduled route to Ben Gurion Airport.
Following the abrupt descent, the crew transmitted transponder code 7700 to signal a general emergency, quickly followed by code 7500, which indicates an unlawful interference or hijacking in progress, as reported by Reuters and the Jerusalem Post. Ynetnews noted that the initial schedule anticipated an arrival in Tel-Aviv at 9:30 a.m.
Israeli Authorities Investigate Terrorist Attack Theory
Two anonymous Israeli officials told Reuters that the mid-air emergency was being treated as a potential terrorist attack perpetrated by one of the pilots, ruling out a sudden mental health crisis. Israeli news site Ynetnews corroborated that national security authorities view the incident as an attempted attack.
According to initial reports gathered by Israeli media, the copilot—identified by regional outlets as originating from the Sultanate of Oman—allegedly stabbed the captain, who is from the United Arab Emirates, during a physical struggle in the cockpit. Channel 12 reported that investigators are reviewing whether the act was an intentional attempt to crash the aircraft, though official confirmation remains pending. Both pilots sustained injuries during the altercation and were subsequently hospitalized upon landing at Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia, as confirmed by the airport’s administration.
Emergency Response and Security Mobilization
The unfolding crisis prompted immediate security measures in Israel. The Times of Israel reported that military fighter jets were initially scrambled to intercept the aircraft, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz convened an emergency security meeting. The Prime Minister’s office later released a statement assuring the public that the situation was under control and that all necessary arrangements were underway to repatriate the passengers, nearly all of whom were Israeli citizens.
The direct commercial air corridor between Dubai and Tel-Aviv has experienced heavy passenger traffic since the formal normalization of diplomatic ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates in 2020.
Conflicting Passenger Accounts and Unverified Media Claims
While official sources confirmed the emergency diversion and subsequent hospitalizations, several dramatic details circulating across regional media outlets remain unverified. Reuters spoke with a passenger’s father who reported that his daughter heard shouting and witnessed a knife-wielding individual tackling a pilot inside the cabin amid widespread bloodstains. Other outlets, including Haaretz, published passenger accounts detailing intervention by travelers inside the cockpit area, alongside images of blood-stained garments that international news agencies could not independently authenticate.
Flight tracking platforms briefly registered a second Flydubai service, flight FZ1081, altering its path shortly after the initial emergency before resuming its scheduled journey toward Tel-Aviv without immediate comment from the airline.
