United Arab Emirates prosecutors on Saturday gave the most detailed public account yet of the mid-air emergency aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073, saying the first officer attacked the captain with a crash axe and tried to take the controls during the Wednesday trip from Dubai to Tel Aviv.
What UAE authorities said happened
In a statement carried by state media, Attorney-General Hamad Saif al Shamsi said investigators concluded the first officer attempted a deliberate hijack of the aircraft during the flight. The release used the UAE’s formal security-law label for the episode; motives and any outside links remain under investigation.
According to the prosecutor’s account, the first officer began his plan in flight, striking the captain inside the flight deck with the crash axe and reaching for the aircraft’s controls. The airline has declined to comment beyond published statements while the inquiry continues.
How the flight ended
The Boeing 737-800 was carrying 174 people, most of them Israeli travelers, when the cockpit struggle unfolded. Israeli officials and passengers who spoke to reporters said crew members and travelers forced their way into the cockpit and restrained the first officer, preventing a crash.
The jet did not continue to Ben Gurion Airport as scheduled. It diverted and landed safely; both pilots were injured. Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian national identified in hospital interviews, told reporters from Abu Dhabi that he was recovering and grateful to those who intervened.
Routes, probes and open questions
Flydubai had already suspended Tel Aviv service while Emirati and Saudi authorities examined the earlier emergency landing of a related rotation in Tabuk. Saturday’s statement is the first time UAE leadership has publicly tied the cockpit violence to a deliberate hijack attempt rather than an unexplained medical or technical episode.
U.S. officials briefed on the Israeli side of the probe told NBC News they had seen no evidence that Iran directed or was involved in the incident. The prosecutor’s release did not name any foreign state as a co-conspirator. Oman, where the first officer held a license, has said it barred him from flying pending the outcome of foreign investigations.
What comes next
Emirati authorities said work continues to establish “the full circumstances, motives, and any links related to the incident.” Aviation regulators in the Gulf and Israel are expected to review cockpit security procedures and how the axe was accessed during cruise.
For passengers, the episode revives scrutiny of low-cost carriers’ Israel routes at a moment of wider Middle East tension. Flydubai reiterated Saturday that it cannot answer detailed questions until investigators finish their work, leaving airlines and insurers to watch whether criminal charges follow the prosecutor’s framing.
Israel’s transport ministry has kept a liaison team in contact with Emirati investigators since the diversion, and several carriers that codeshare with Flydubai said they were reviewing crew pairing rules while the case remains open. None announced schedule changes beyond the Tel Aviv suspension already in place.