Mohan Sinha
03 Oct 2026

LONDON/TEL AVIV: Saudi Arabia rejected a request from Israel on September 30 to allow Israeli military aircraft to pick up passengers from a flydubai flight that made an emergency landing in the kingdom, according to two Saudi security sources.

The request was made after the flydubai aircraft, en route from the United Arab Emirates to Israel, was diverted to Saudi Arabia following an in-flight emergency. Saudi Arabia does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

The Israeli Air Force had been preparing to send C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft to bring the Israeli passengers home, one of the security sources said.

However, the passengers continued their journey on a flydubai aircraft instead, the airline said.

Saudi Arabia's government media office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Israeli request to send military aircraft.

The flight carrying dozens of Israeli passengers from the U.A.E. to Tel Aviv was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after one pilot allegedly attacked another and appeared to try to bring down the aircraft.

The attacker was restrained by passengers and crew members before the plane could be brought under control.

The flydubai flight issued an emergency alert after the incident and suddenly lost several thousand feet in altitude. The unusual events raised fears that the aircraft could have been hijacked.

Israel responded by scrambling fighter jets as a precaution while authorities worked to establish what had happened aboard the plane.

The flydubai flight eventually landed safely in the Saudi city of Tabuk. An Israeli official said authorities believed there may have been an attempt to harm Israeli passengers, and an investigation was underway.

About two and a half hours after leaving Dubai, flydubai Flight FZ1073 sent an emergency alert, according to publicly available flight-tracking data.

Flightradar24 showed that the aircraft suddenly dropped from about 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet in around one minute. It then made an unusual turn near the Jordanian border before continuing towards Saudi Arabia and landing in Tabuk about an hour later.

According to reports, the pilot of the flydubai plane, who was stabbed by his Omani copilot, was Indian captain Smit Machchhar. He had flown with SpiceJet for 10 years before joining flydubai. He fought his attacker and was helped by co-passengers to subdue the copilot. He even sent out a squawk code to indicate a hijack.

In one video, a person could be heard saying in Hebrew, "We are guarding the pilot." Another video showed passengers crying and appearing distressed as the aircraft shook.

The captain and first officer were injured and taken to hospital, according to a statement from Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk, as reported by the Saudi state television channel Al-Ikhbariya.

The incident comes at a sensitive time for Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently warned of unspecified increased security threats. Israel is also approaching the anniversary of the October 7, 2023, attacks in southern Israel and is preparing for an election, while remaining involved in several conflicts.