Flydubai passengers prepare lawsuit over attack on Tel Aviv flight

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Flydubai passengers prepare lawsuit over attack on Tel Aviv flight

October 13, 2026

DUBAI,— Passengers aboard a Flydubai flight that nearly crashed last month on its way to Tel Aviv are preparing to file a lawsuit seeking hundreds of millions of dollars, Calcalist reported.

The group intends to sue the airline, the State of Israel, and other parties connected to the flight.

The flight, numbered FZ1073, traveled from Dubai to Tel Aviv carrying 174 people, most of them Israeli citizens, Israeli officials said.

The incident began when the co-pilot stabbed the captain, sending the aircraft plunging nearly 14,000 feet in under 30 seconds.

Passengers and crew members entered the cockpit and subdued the co-pilot, allowing a second Flydubai pilot team on board to bring the plane down safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

More than 10 hours later, passengers arrived at Ben Gurion Airport aboard a replacement Flydubai aircraft.

Roughly 100 of the 174 passengers have authorized a steering committee to pursue compensation on their behalf. The committee will work with authorities and oversee the legal process.

Tzvika Manes, chief executive of underwriting firm Barak Leumi, who helped hold down the co-pilot during the attack, was selected to lead the committee. Joining him are Singapore-based lawyer Tal Eisenberg and passengers Daniel Schlichter, Itay Perlman, and Shir Maor.

The committee has held meetings with law firms in Israel and plans to meet international firms before choosing legal representation. The remaining passengers have not yet decided whether to join the group or pursue separate claims.

Once the lawyer meetings conclude, the committee intends to present initial findings and recommendations to passengers before deciding on next steps.

Potential defendants include Israel’s Ministry of Transportation and possibly its counterpart in the United Arab Emirates. Transportation ministries in other nations may also face claims, since several passengers hold foreign citizenship.

The push for legal action began in a WhatsApp group that passengers created immediately after landing at Ben Gurion Airport.

About 70 members of that group asked Manes and one or two others to take charge. Manes, a senior figure in capital markets, has connections to legal professionals who could aid the case.

One challenge facing the lawsuit is that the episode has no clear precedent. Passengers are examining what they describe as an attempted hijacking, which began with a physical struggle between the two pilots before the plane dove toward the ground.

The co-pilot is accused of launching the assault. A preliminary review conducted with law firms found that a section of the Abraham Accords between Israel and the UAE sets rules governing flights between the two nations.

Passengers now want to know whether the flight complied with those terms.

The UAE’s attorney general said Friday that the co-pilot, an Omani national, meant to hijack the flight on September 30, 2026, and crash it deliberately into a terminal at Ben Gurion Airport.

The UAE’s attorney general said the plan was a suicide mission that a fellow pilot managed to stop.

A UAE prosecutors’ inquiry opened October 1 concluded the plot was inspired by the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

Investigators said the Omani co-pilot struck the Indian captain with an emergency crash axe while the plane was in the air.

The suspect had taken two earlier trips to Tel Aviv to study the flight route and the airport’s layout.

Officials said the man had worked at several carriers, including Oman Air and Royal Air Maroc, before joining Flydubai in January 2026.

The UAE prosecutor general had earlier called the episode a terrorist attack. On October 5, the co-pilot told UAE investigators he had planned the attack before he was hired by the airline.

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