Flight FZ1073 transmitted distress codes 7700, for a general emergency, and 7500, for a hijacking. It landed at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport at 9:45 am local time. Saudi authorities arrested the attacker, who was hospitalized and questioned. The captain was also hospitalized. According to DPA, the pilot stabbed his co-pilot and tried to crash the aircraft.

News18 gives a more detailed account. It says an Omani co-pilot stabbed Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, during the descent. The aircraft lost more than 17,000 feet of altitude in under two minutes. Machchhar was seriously injured but fought back and opened the cockpit door, which let passengers and crew subdue the attacker. DPA does not give nationalities. Machchhar is in stable condition at a hospital in Tabuk, and the Indian Embassy in Riyadh and the Indian Consulate in Jeddah are following his recovery. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called him a "true hero," and U.S. President Donald Trump also commended his actions.

Netanyahu said a passenger described the plane entering a nosedive before the crew and passengers overpowered the attacker. He used the phrase "9/11 disaster." Defence Minister Israel Katz joined him in calling the incident an "attempted terrorist attack." Israeli officials described it as aimed at Israelis, the United Arab Emirates and the Abraham Accords, which established diplomatic ties between Israel and the UAE in 2020. Eden Bar Tal, Director General of the Foreign Ministry, told Israeli ambassadors the attack was directed against the UAE and the accords. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich condemned it as a jihadist plot. Smotrich called for the attacker and any state sponsors to be held accountable. A fellow pilot described the alleged attacker as a "religious extremist."

The passenger numbers differ by source. DPA reports 174 passengers, 27 of them children, while News18 reports 174 passengers and crew. DPA says Ben-Gvir and Smotrich described a plot targeting 180 Israelis on board.

Flydubai confirmed the incident. It said the matter is under formal investigation and cautioned against premature speculation about motives. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan agreed to cooperate against "extremist elements." Israel and Saudi Arabia have no diplomatic relations.

Flydubai, a Dubai-based low-cost carrier operating nearly 100 Boeing 737s across 56 countries, arranged replacement transport with Saudi authorities. The passengers later flew on to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, where families were waiting. DPA reports it was the first hijacking attempt on a flight to Israel since 1972, when Palestinian terrorists hijacked Sabena Flight 571 and Israeli special forces stormed it.