Israel was prepared to shoot down a Flydubai passenger aircraft carrying more than 150 Israelis after an alleged cockpit attack left the plane plunging toward the ground and authorities temporarily lost contact with the crew, according to a CBS News report citing two Israeli officials familiar with the incident.
The aircraft, Flydubai Flight FZ1073, was travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30 when its Omani co-pilot allegedly attacked and wounded the captain with an emergency axe before attempting to take control of the aircraft. The plane subsequently lost roughly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds, triggering an emergency response.
Israeli officials said the aircraft was carrying 174 people, most of them Israeli nationals. The incident unfolded while the plane was approaching Israel, raising fears that it could be used in a deliberate attack against a target on Israeli territory.
According to the CBS report, Israeli authorities activated a long-standing procedure designed to deal with a passenger aircraft believed to have been hijacked or otherwise posing a threat to a high-value target. Fighter jets were scrambled after attempts to establish contact with the cockpit failed, while Israeli airspace was temporarily closed.
Under the reported protocol, Israeli authorities could consider intercepting and destroying a rogue passenger aircraft if they determined that it had been hijacked and posed an imminent threat. The decision to shoot down such an aircraft would require authorization from the prime minister, according to the report.
The Israeli fighters were ultimately recalled after the Flydubai aircraft changed course toward Saudi Arabia. Saudi fighter aircraft were also deployed as the plane approached the kingdom, according to the report.
The crisis was resolved from inside the aircraft. Despite being wounded, Indian captain Smit Machchhar managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to enter and overpower the co-pilot. Two off-duty Flydubai pilots who were travelling on the aircraft then took control and landed the plane safely at Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia.
Machchhar later told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he realized the aircraft was descending rapidly while he was injured on the cockpit floor. He said he managed to open the door, enabling people outside to intervene.
The incident has since triggered a broader investigation into the co-pilot, identified by sources as Omani national Hamam al-Hammami. UAE authorities have described the incident as a terrorist attack, although the investigation into the motive and circumstances remains ongoing.
Israeli officials have separately told Reuters that al-Hammami allegedly told UAE investigators that he had planned the attack before joining Flydubai. Sources also said he had allegedly intended to crash the aircraft at Ben Gurion Airport. Those claims have not been independently established in court, and UAE authorities have not publicly disclosed formal charges against him.
The investigation has also expanded beyond the UAE and Israel. New Zealand police confirmed that the co-pilot spent several months in the country in 2018–19 while completing part of his flight training for a UK-based company. Australian counterterrorism authorities are separately examining his links to Australia.
Israeli authorities have ordered tighter scrutiny of pilots operating flights into the country following the incident. Questions have also emerged over how an Omani national, from a country without diplomatic relations with Israel, came to be assigned to a flight bound for Tel Aviv.
For the passengers aboard FZ1073, the episode ended without a crash only after intervention by the captain, passengers and fellow pilots. For Israeli authorities, however, the incident also demonstrated how quickly a cockpit attack could escalate into a national security emergency—and how an aircraft carrying civilians could become the subject of a shoot-down decision within minutes.
