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Flydubai Pilot Arrested After 'Apparently' Trying to Crash Israel-Bound Plane, Says Netanyahu

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Cite

Cleary, O. A. (2026, September 30). Flydubai Pilot Arrested After 'Apparently' Trying to Crash Israel-Bound Plane, Says Netanyahu. TIME. https://time.com/article/2026/09/30/flydubai-pilot-arrested-crash-attempt-stabbing-cockpit-israel-bound-plane/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

TIME · collected 2026-09-30 · by Olivia-Anne Cleary

Quick Summary

Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the co-pilot of Flydubai flight FZ1073 was arrested after reportedly attempting to crash the plane by stabbing the pilot during an Israel-bound trip. Passengers and on-duty crew members intervened, breaking into the cockpit to subdue the attacker before the plane safely landed in Saudi Arabia. The aircraft experienced a sudden descent of nearly 14,000 feet within 30 seconds as reported by Flightradar24 data. Netanyahu praised the actions of those who helped save lives on board, referring to them as heroes.
Written by AI on 2026-09-30, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On September 30, 2026, a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv signaled an emergency and was diverted to land at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia. The incident initially raised concerns about a possible hijacking, prompting Israel to scramble warplanes. However, Israeli officials later reported that the emergency signals were due to a physical altercation between the plane's two pilots rather than a hijacking attempt.

The flight, identified as Flydubai Flight FZ1073, transmitted multiple emergency alerts after takeoff and over Jordanian airspace before landing safely in Saudi Arabia. Passengers on board managed to overpower the attacker, who was later identified by UAE officials as Omani co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami. Al-Hammami allegedly attempted to crash the plane into Tel Aviv's airport but was stopped by passengers.

UAE Attorney-General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi stated that signs of al-Hammami’s radicalization first emerged in 2017 while he was studying engineering at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. He reportedly became influenced by extremist literature and online content glorifying terrorist organizations during this period.

Written for “Flydubai Hijacker's Radicalization Path” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 345 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Flydubai Hijacker's Radicalization Path
Crime & Law · 346 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 10% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
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Hedges 1 of 2 claims Outlet record 66/100
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Hedges 1 of 1 claims Outlet record 52/100
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Hedges 1 of 2 claims Outlet record 66/100
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Hedges 4 of 22 claims Outlet record 66/100
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Hedges 3 of 30 claims Outlet record 60/100
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⚖️ Centre Hedges 0 of 4 claims Outlet record 60/100
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Hedges 2 of 18 claims Outlet record 60/100
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Hedges 2 of 29 claims Outlet record 68/100
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Hedges 1 of 3 claims Outlet record 66/100
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Hedges 2 of 10 claims Outlet record 65/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
10
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
10%
1 of 10 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
59/100
TIME's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
346
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-30 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

TIME · 785 article(s) · 2 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 2 correction(s)
2026-10-19
Santevia Refillable Metal Shower Filter
2026-09-17
Kerry James Marshall

Who wrote this

Olivia-Anne Cleary
11 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Also by Olivia-Anne Cleary
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 11 articles by Olivia-Anne Cleary →

Topics

Dubai Flydubai Israeli Saudi Arabia Tel Aviv

Subjects

Flydubai ORG · 4× Netanyahu PERSON · 4× Israeli NORP · 2× Benjamin Netanyahu PERSON · 1× Dubai GPE · 1× Flightradar24 ORG · 1× Israel GPE · 1× Saudi NORP · 1× Saudi Arabia GPE · 1× Tel Aviv GPE · 1×

Narrative

“During the flight, as they were approaching Israel, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot and, apparently, tried to crash the plane with its passengers on board,” Netanyahu said in a video statement released by his office. “I spoke with one of the Israeli passengers, he told me that the plane went into a spin and began to descend,” Netanyahu continued.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-30
🔮 Saudi authorities will now interrogate the co-pilot of the flight in question, FZ1073.
2026-09-30 · TIME
Flydubai Pilot Arrested After 'Apparently' Trying to Crash Israel-Bound Plane, Says Netanyahu · assertive framing

Claims (10 extracted, 1 hedged)

The co-pilot of a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv has been arrested after seemingly attempting to crash the plane after stabbing the pilot, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday. asserted
Netanyahu → arrest → pilot
Passengers helped on-duty Flydubai crew, who were travelling on the flight, break into the cockpit and hold down the co-pilot, allowing the other pilots to safely land the plane in Saudi Arabia, according to Netanyahu. uncertain
pilots → help → Netanyahu
Saudi authorities will now interrogate the co-pilot of the flight in question, FZ1073. asserted
authorities → interrogate → FZ1073
“During the flight, as they were approaching Israel, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot and, apparently, tried to crash the plane with its passengers on board,” Netanyahu said in a video statement released by his office. “I spoke with one of the Israeli passengers, he told me that the plane went into a spin and began to descend,” Netanyahu continued. asserted
Netanyahu → approach → spin
“He told me that, somehow, he managed to break into the cockpit with one of the crew members and, together, they overpowered the pilot who had carried out the stabbing.” asserted
who → tell → stabbing
Flightradar24 data showed the aircraft plunged nearly 14,000 feet within 30 seconds during the incident. asserted
aircraft → show → incident
Netanyahu praised the actions of those who intervened, calling them “heroes” who had “demonstrated extraordinary resourcefulness” and “saved many lives.” asserted
who → praise → lives
Flydubai issued a statement confirming the aircraft had been "successfully secured by on-duty Flydubai crew travelling on the flight” and relaying that all passengers and crew are safe and accounted for. asserted
passengers → issue → flight
"At this early stage, the underlying reasons and motives behind this event are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation,” the airline added. asserted
airline → underlie → investigation
This is a developing story and will be updated. asserted
This → develop → ?
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