Off-Nadir Delta

Co-pilot attacks captain on flydubai Flight FZ1073; Saudi Arabia denies Israeli evacuation request

Titles and summaries are AI-extracted from news reporting; every source is linked below. Event id 0ca2bdc7-c5ef-47ca-98b5-8881af292802.

Where
Tabuk Airportresolved to facility
When
Occurrence date not stated by reportingFirst reported 2026-09-30 · last update 2026-10-08
Sourcing
1109 reports1109 reports across 419 outlets · independence not established
How far this got
reportedlocation sources disagreeThis signal has no sensor recommendation, so there is nothing specific to look for.

Summary

On a flydubai flight from Dubai to Israel, the co-pilot attacked the captain with a knife or axe in the cockpit. The captain, Smit Machchhar, sustained injuries including a depressed skull fracture but managed to open the cockpit door. Passengers and off-duty crew members intervened and restrained the co-pilot, Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani national. The aircraft lost altitude rapidly during the incident, descending over 16,000 feet in approximately 90 seconds at steep angles, causing damage to the rudder. The flight made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia denied an Israeli request to send an aircraft to evacuate passengers. The co-pilot was arrested and is under investigation by UAE authorities, with inquiries examining potential links to extremist groups and al-Qaeda. Flydubai has not confirmed details of the incident. The co-pilot had been banned from flying by Oman due to radical ideological views and had worked for flydubai for approximately eight months.

What imagery could confirm

Which satellite to use, what to look for and why. Part of the event detail on Pro.

What remains unresolved

  • location sources disagree

Timeline

322 recorded change(s). The ledger starts when this event was first folded: the initial observation is not recorded as a change, so an empty timeline means nothing has moved since, not that nothing is known.

    11 more change(s) — the values are part of the event detail on paid plans. 89 change(s) before the history shown here.

    Sources

    Grouped by outlet. Syndication is not collapsed, so several outlets can carry one wire story — the count is breadth of carriage, not independent confirmation.

    1109 reports in all; the full list with the facts taken from each is part of the event detail on Pro.

    Related events

    8 related event(s) and 10 place(s) or facilities — the same facility, place, actor or campaign. Part of the event detail on Pro.

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