Jerusalem Post [1]/Israel News [2]/Defense News [3]
ISRAEL WAS PREPARED TO DOWN FLYDUBAI FLIGHT WITH 166 ISRAELIS ONBOARD
DURING ATTEMPTED HIJACKING
HAD FLIGHT 1073 CONTINUED TOWARD ISRAEL AND REACHED A PREDETERMINED
DISTANCE, ISRAELI FIGHTER JETS WOULD HAVE ENTERED JORDANIAN AIRSPACE TO
INVESTIGATE THE AIRCRAFT, TWO SOURCES TOLD CBS NEWS.
Follow us on Google [4] Flydubai plane seen at the Ben-Gurion
International Airport, outside of Tel Aviv, September 30, 2026. (photo
credit: YOSSI ALONI/FLASH90) ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF [5] OCTOBER 6, 2026
10:34 Updated: OCTOBER 6, 2026 18:10
Israel was prepared to shoot down [6] flydubai flight FZ 1073 during
last Wednesday's suspected hijacking attempt, despite 166 Israeli
passengers being aboard the aircraft, two Israeli sources with direct
knowledge of the incident told CBS News on Monday.
The flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was approaching Israel when the
co-pilot attacked the captain in the cockpit and attempted to crash the
aircraft [7].
After the aircraft plunged 14,000 feet, the Israel Air Force attempted
to contact the cockpit but received no response, CBS News reported.
Israeli authorities activated a long-established procedure for dealing
with a potentially hostile civilian aircraft [8], convening a
predetermined committee and establishing a command center.
Israel scrambled fighter jets and closed its airspace; jets were later
recalled after authorities determined that the aircraft, while about 400
miles from Israel [9], had turned toward Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia then
scrambled its own fighter jets.
The captain managed to fight off the co-pilot long enough to unlock the
cockpit door, allowing Israeli passengers and flydubai staff to
overpower the alleged attacker. Two off-duty pilots traveling aboard the
flight then took control of the aircraft and made an emergency landing
in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. IAF F-16 takes off, May 5, 2026. (credit: IDF
SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
Passengers were later brought back to Israel on a flydubai rescue flight
that landed at Ben-Gurion Airport on Wednesday evening.
ISRAEL'S PROTOCOL FOR A SUSPECTED HIJACKING
Had flight 1073 continued toward Israel and reached a predetermined
distance, Israeli fighter jets would have entered Jordanian airspace to
investigate the aircraft, the two sources told CBS News.
The fighter pilots would have flown as close as possible to the
passenger plane, attempting to visually inspect the cockpit and
establish contact with the pilot. They would then examine the cabin from
the air for signs of panic or other indications that control of the
aircraft had been seized.
Their assessment would have been relayed to the Air Force and the
committee overseeing the incident, the sources said.
If authorities concluded that the aircraft had been hijacked, while
those controlling it continued to maintain radio silence and made no
demands, the defense minister and prime minister would have been brought
into the decision-making process to make the final call.
Notably, during a meeting of the Intelligence Subcommittee of the
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, it was revealed that since the
beginning of the year, more than 1,200 aviation crew members from
countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel have entered
the country, including Syria, Lebanon, and Oman.
_https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-910749?utm_source=activetrail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=October62026_
_Amichai Stein contributed to this report. _
Links:
------
[1] https://www.jpost.com/
[2] https://www.jpost.com/israel-news
[3] https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news
[4] https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=https://www.jpost.com/
[5] https://www.jpost.com/author/jerusalem-post-staff
[6] https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-910678
[7] https://www.jpost.com/international/article-910155
[8] https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-910643
[9] https://www.jpost.com/international/islamic-terrorism/article-910544
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