Israel and UAE launch repatriation flights after FlyDubai crash scare
Israel and the UAE are launching repatriation flights for passengers stranded after a FlyDubai Boeing 737 made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia following an alleged attempted cockpit takeover.
Newsnibs Staff
- 2026-10-02
- Updated 3:34 PM UTC
(Tabuk, Saudi Arabia)
Repatriation flights are set to begin Friday for passengers stranded after an incident aboard a FlyDubai flight bound for Tel Aviv. India Today reports that Israel and the United Arab Emirates agreed to start the flights. AP reports that Israel will begin them and that the stranded passengers are in the UAE.
The incident happened on Wednesday. The aircraft, a Boeing 737, carried 182 people: 174 passengers and 8 crew members. It descended to as low as 15,000 feet and made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. According to India Today, it sent emergency signals near the Saudi-Jordanian border, including a 7500 code, which signals unlawful interference.
Accounts differ on what happened and on the outcome. AP calls it an attack and says the copilot, an Omani citizen, allegedly tried to crash the plane. India Today calls it an incident and does not state the copilot's intent. AP also reports that the captain, Smit Machchhar, fought off the copilot. Machchhar was wounded, is recovering in a hospital in Abu Dhabi, and has spoken with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. One line in AP's opening says all 182 people on board died, but AP's later text and India Today both describe an emergency landing and an injured captain who survived, and nothing else in either report supports the death claim.
The UAE has canceled all flights to Israel. India Today says this disrupts travel between two countries that have had ties since the 2020 Abraham Accords. AP says it complicates travel for hundreds of passengers daily. The UAE is leading the investigation, with Israeli involvement, according to AP.
Who or what lay behind the copilot's behavior is disputed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the copilot underwent "Islamist radical indoctrination," and provided no evidence for this. U.S. President Donald Trump suggested early information points to links with Tehran, and said the U.S. would "hit them very hard" if Iranian agents were involved. An anonymous official said there is currently no evidence of an Iranian link.
A U.S.-Iran war is ongoing, and AP says the incident could affect negotiations in that war. Separately, the U.S. is deploying roughly 9,000 additional troops to the Middle East, including the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group. The deployment brings the U.S. naval presence in the region to over 20,000 sailors and Marines.
Photo by Pascal Meier on Unsplash
