AI-generated summary
Flydubai flight FZ1073 connected Dubai to Tel Aviv with 174 occupants on board. During the flight, a pilot allegedly attacked his co-pilot and tried to take control of the plane to cause it to crash. Passengers, including Yaniv Hayun, intervened to subdue the attacker and regain control.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Wednesday at Ben Gurion Airport, near Tel Aviv, passengers from Saudi Arabia whose plane had been diverted. During his trip, the manager hugged a man named Yaniv Hayun, presented as one of the passengers who managed to enter the cockpit where an altercation had broken out.
According to Israeli authorities, one of the pilots of Flydubai flight FZ1073, which was to go from Dubai to Tel Aviv, stabbed his colleague and tried to crash the plane, but he was overpowered by passengers. The 174 occupants, including 166 Israelis according to Israeli media, are all safe. “I see a lion, I see a great hero,” greeted Benjamin Netanyahu to Yaniv Hayun, in a video broadcast by his services, in the presence of the survivor’s wife and two of his daughters.
Skip the ad
“It will take a while to recover”
In his detailed account to his manager, Yaniv Hayun says he managed to enter the cockpit with another passenger, where the injured pilot was, near the door. “I saw the assailant between the two pilots’ seats which were empty, he was trying to destroy the dashboard,” he explains. “I grabbed the assailant by the neck, overpowered him and pulled him out,” continues Yaniv Hayun, whose t-shirt and pants are stained with blood, in the video published by the prime minister's office. “Did it come from him (the alleged assailant, Editor’s note)?” asks the manager, pointing to the traces of blood. "Yes. It will take a while to recover,” assures the passenger.
The passenger has no doubt about the co-pilot’s intentions. “He was trying to destroy the controls in order to deactivate the plane,” he says. The father then recounts having called other Israeli passengers to help him control him. While the aircraft was losing altitude significantly, Yaniv Hayun claims to have returned to the cockpit. “I returned to the cockpit and grabbed the controls,” he reports.
Surprised, Benyamin Netanyahu questioned him about the reflexes that had enabled him to deal with this situation. “I knew how to pull the handle, I saw the series Mayday: Air Crash (Dangers in the Sky in French, Editor’s note)”, in reference to the show dedicated to air accidents. Yaniv Hayun then whispers that “the plane started to stabilize a little more”, before a pilot tells him that he is taking back the controls. After the altercation between the pilot and his co-pilot, the Flydubai plane was diverted to a city in the northwest of Saudi Arabia, Tabuk. According to local airport authorities, both pilots are injured and have been hospitalized. The passengers were finally able to return to Israel on another plane.
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
An official investigation will be carried out by Israeli, Saudi and Emirati civil aviation authorities into the circumstances of the attack and possible security failures.
Very likely · Within weeks
Flydubai will review its safety protocols regarding cockpit access and monitoring of cabin crew behavior.
Likely · Within months

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung urged North Korea to rebuild trust and resume dialogue after mine explosions in the Demilitarized Zone injured three South Korean soldiers in September, including one who lost a foot. Seoul accuses Pyongyang of violating the 1953 armistice, while the North denies any responsibility. Contact between the two Koreas has been broken since the end of 2023.

Vladimir Putin signed a decree increasing the strength of the Russian army, bringing the cumulative increase since March to 47,860 soldiers. Furthermore, Sergei Lavrov met his German counterpart in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, a first since the start of the war in Ukraine.
At least three women were trampled to death in a stampede during a distribution of 10,000 naira cash aid in Minna, Nigeria, according to a local medical source. A UN report mentions five deaths. Cash distributions are common in Nigeria and sometimes linked to vote buying ahead of the January 16 elections.

FlyDubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv was diverted to Saudi Arabia after a violent altercation between the pilots, during which Indian captain Smit Machchhar was stabbed but managed to regain control of the plane, saving 174 people. FlyDubai suspended flights to Israel during the investigation. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the courage of the pilot and met the passengers upon their arrival. Several Israeli officials have spoken of a possible terrorist attack, while El Al plans to resume flights to Dubai in November.

On Wednesday, flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv experienced a violent loss of altitude after one pilot allegedly stabbed the other. The passengers overpowered the attacker, allowing an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed “heroes” who averted a catastrophe.

Faced with Iranian and Yemeni pressure, Saudi Arabia is discreetly seeking intelligence and defense capabilities from Israel, despite the lack of political normalization between the two countries.