A FlyDubai co-pilot stabbed the pilot on an Israel-bound flight, plunging the jet 18,000 feet before passengers forced a Saudi emergency landing in what officials called a 9/11-style try.

The attack unfolded early Wednesday in the cockpit of a FlyDubai Boeing 737 Max 8 carrying 174 passengers from Dubai to Tel Aviv. The co-pilot stabbed the pilot several times and tried to seize control as the aircraft cruised near 34,000 feet, the New York Post reported.

FlightAware data showed the plane dropped to about 15,400 feet in just 12 minutes. Cabin crew and passengers rushed the cockpit, subdued the attacker, and two off-duty European pilots already onboard brought the jet down safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Israeli officials quickly framed the violence as far more than a crew fight. An official told Channel 12 the stabbing pilot “tried to do 9/11.” The IDF, Shin Bet, and Mossad suspect terrorism. Fighter jets scrambled. Israeli airspace closed temporarily while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government worked alternate flights for the stranded passengers.

Passengers rushed the cockpit and stopped the attacker

Passenger accounts match the official picture of a mid-air struggle that nearly ended in catastrophe. A traveler known only as Meital said a crew member “tried to crash the plane” before her husband and other Israelis acted.

“Someone shouted ‘stabbing’ and my husband understood what was happening and rushed to the front of the plane,” Meital said. “Along with other Israelis they neutralized the terrorist.” She described “a lot of blood.”

Another passenger told I24 News the choice felt binary. “We were either going to crash or be murdered.” The same traveler called it “like a terrorist attack in mid-air.” Video shared by Israeli media showed bloodied clothing and a passenger with a head wound begging for help while stating the attackers had been subdued.

One passenger recounted shouting at two other pilots seated in the rear to race forward and take the controls. Traveler Uri, speaking to Walla, offered a grim summary of what he understood: “From what I understand, the pilot tried to kill himself with us.”

Those quick actions prevented a far worse outcome, the kind of emergency survival story that has marked other recent aviation scares, including when a Wisconsin congressman swam to safety after an emergency water landing.

Both pilots left injured; suspect taken into custody

Just the News reported that both the captain and first officer of FlyDubai Flight FZ 1073 were injured and taken to a hospital. A knife-carrying pilot had tried to stab his colleague on the Dubai-to-Tel Aviv route. Netanyahu saluted the passengers who intervened.

“I salute these heroes, who displayed exceptional resourcefulness and courage. They saved many lives. They prevented a huge disaster.”

FlyDubai confirmed an incident occurred and the plane landed safely in Tabuk. A company spokesperson said teams were working closely with relevant authorities and that further updates would follow as confirmed details arrived. The airline also stated that at the early stage the underlying reasons and motives remained unknown and subject to formal investigation.

Breitbart noted the cockpit fight, the stabbing, the erratic altitude loss, and the emergency diversion to Tabuk. Crew members, helped by passengers, restrained the assailant. All passengers were later reported safe and accounted for.

U.S. and Israeli channels said the attacker was taken into custody on landing. Fox News reported the suspect, identified as Omani, was arrested in Saudi Arabia after the emergency stop. Investigations remained active in Israel and elsewhere with close coordination among counterparts.

“It’s very active,” Blanche said of the incident. “There’s active investigations going on in Israel and elsewhere. We’re coordinating very closely with our counterparts overseas.”

Netanyahu earlier told Reuters the suspect was arrested after the Tabuk landing. Israeli sources told the Jerusalem Post the co-pilot was believed to be Omani and had worked at FlyDubai for less than a year.

Rudder damage and unanswered security questions

Photos and reporting pointed to serious damage to the aircraft’s rudder. Arik Zer, former Shin Bet head of flight security, said the damage could not have been caused by any external object. That detail raised hard questions about what happened inside the cockpit during the struggle for control.

FlyDubai, the low-cost sister carrier of Emirates, runs daily return flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv. The route became popular with Israeli tourists after the UAE and Israel normalized relations in 2020. Normal flight paths cross Saudi and Jordanian airspace. The sudden diversion to a Saudi civilian and military base at Tabuk underscored how quickly the crisis escalated.

Motive has not been proven in public findings released so far. Israeli security bodies suspect terrorism. Passenger and official language repeatedly invoked hijacking and a deliberate crash attempt. FlyDubai has kept the formal investigation open and has not assigned a final cause. Absolute calendar dating beyond “early Wednesday” and the 6:50 a.m. Dubai departure remains tied to the initial reporting window.

What is already clear is the sequence: a cockpit stabbing, a steep altitude loss measured in minutes, passenger and crew intervention, off-duty pilots landing a damaged jet, and an immediate Israeli security response that treated the event as a potential mass-casualty plot against an Israel-bound aircraft.

Commercial flights to Israel have long required layered defenses for good reason. When a co-pilot turns a knife on the captain at cruising altitude, those defenses start with the people already onboard, and with governments willing to call a suspected attack by its name.