Flydubai passengers recount terrifying ordeal as pilot allegedly attempted to hijack and crash flight to Israel

Updated on: September 30, 2026 / 1:08 PM EDT / CBS News

Passenger accounts paint a chaotic and terrifying picture of the alleged attempted hijacking of Flydubai flight 1073 on Wednesday. The flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said one pilot stabbed his counterpart and tried to crash the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft.

"As they were approaching Israel, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently attempted to crash the plane with everyone on board," Netanyahu said in a video statement, lauding passengers he said had helped to "neutralize the pilot."

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz called it "an attempted jihadist terror attack."

"It was the most frightening experience we've ever had in our lives," passenger Ron Levi told CBS News on Wednesday.

Here's what we know about how the suspected terror attack unfolded, based on accounts from Levi and other passengers.

"The flight was going well, we were two hours in," Levi told CBS News' Dov Lieber, speaking from Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where the plane made its safe emergency landing, piloted by an off-duty flight crew member that happened to…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/