The captain stabbed aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073 has been identified as Smit Machchhar, an Indian national based in Dubai, rather than an Emirati as Israeli officials initially described him. Machchhar joined Flydubai in 2022 after 11 years with Indian airline SpiceJet and received medical treatment from Israeli passengers aboard the Dubai to Tel Aviv flight.

Israeli authorities confirmed that a replacement Flydubai aircraft carrying the passengers departed Saudi Arabia, where the original flight made an emergency landing in Tabuk. Saudi Arabia refused permission for Israeli military or civilian aircraft to retrieve them, Channel 12 reported. Some passengers initially refused to board another Flydubai aircraft, but all Israelis boarded after Mossad approved the operation, the broadcaster said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said one pilot stabbed the other and apparently tried to crash the aircraft before passengers and crew subdued him. Both pilots were hospitalized, Tabuk airport said, and all passengers were safe. Defense Minister Israel Katz called the incident a “jihadist terrorist attack attempt,” while Flydubai said the reasons and motives remained unknown and under formal investigation.