The UAE Attorney General reveals new details in the Flydubai case

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The UAE Attorney General revealed new details about the Flydubai incident, explaining that the accused co-pilot, an Omani national, planned to control the plane and use it in a suicide operation, and that his actions related to the incident began in Australia in 2017.

The Public Prosecutor said that the accused surprised the pilot of the plane and assaulted him with an emergency axe, noting that during his career he moved between several airline companies before joining Flydubai, and met the company’s professional and security employment requirements, according to the Emirates News Agency (WAM).

The Public Prosecutor added that the accused moved during his professional career between a number of airline companies in different countries, as he worked for Oman Air from 2020 until 2024, then he joined Royal Air Maroc in early 2025 and worked there for several months, before moving to Flydubai in January 2026.

The case concerns flight FZ1073 of Flydubai, which was heading from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30. The co-pilot tried to attack the flight commander using an emergency ax and take control of the plane, which required intervention to contain the situation.

The flight ended with a safe emergency landing in the Saudi city of Tabuk, according to media reports covering the incident.

The details of the accident date back to September 30, when flight FZ1073 of Flydubai, heading from Dubai to Tel Aviv, suffered a sharp and sudden landing exceeding 16,000 feet within about 30 seconds, according to flight tracking data reviewed by Reuters.

The agency reported that the co-pilot assaulted the flight commander inside the cockpit using an emergency axe, wounding the commander, before the latter was able to open the cockpit door and allow the passengers to intervene and control the co-pilot. Two reserve pilots on board the plane took command of the flight and diverted it to the Saudi city of Tabuk, where it landed safely.

The plane was carrying more than 170 passengers, the majority of whom were Israelis, while the Saudi authorities detained the co-pilot after landing. The UAE authorities announced the opening of an investigation to determine the circumstances of the incident, its motives and possible links to it, before the UAE Attorney General described what happened as an attempt to carry out a terrorist act.