What really happened aboard the Flydubai Flight FZ1073?

Was it a hijack attempt or terrorist attack?

Two off-duty pilots, present as passengers on board the flydubai Boeing 737 MAX 8, reportedly helped the crew regain control and land the aircraft in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, following the fighting and stabbing incident that occurred in the cockpit.

The passengers applauded upon landing, after a situation that could have turned tragic.

According to Israeli sources the hypothesis of a terrorist attack is now being investigated.

Initial reports suggest it was the Omani co-pilot who carried out the attack.

The Mossad would be leading the inquiry, with support from the Shin Bet.

The mother of a passenger aboard the Flydubai flight has described the terrifying moments during the reported mid-air cockpit incident.

“She heard screams and calls for help before the aircraft began to lose control,” the passenger’s mother said.

The woman also alleged that a crew member took a knife and attempted to attack the captain.

 Both the FlyDubai captain and co-pilot have been hospitalized after the cockpit stabbing…

Saudi officials confirmed the pilots were transferred to a local hospital after the Israel-bound plane declared an emergency.

Cockpit footage shows Israeli passengers covered in the blood of the FlyDubai pilot who was stabbed by his co-pilot in an attempt to hijack and crash the Boeing 737 headed to Tel Aviv from Dubai.

“Now we’ve learned pilots in civilian clothes who were passengers overpowered the terrorist and landed the plane in Saudi Arabia while helping the crew render aid.”

But following the 2001 incident of 9/11 cockpit doors on a 737 MAX are reinforced and locked from the inside.

Cabin crew can request entry with a code; if the pilots do not actively deny it within a short window, the door unlocks. Forcing it from the cabin is designed to be very difficult.

Passenger accounts are consistent on one point: the door did open. Several independently said they heard screams, then “they opened the cockpit” or “we saw the cockpit door being opened” and there was blood.

Other versions say passengers and crew “forced open” or “broke through” it and dragged the attacker out.

One passenger claimed that the attacker was trying to force the stabbed pilot out of the cockpit while the plane was diving, which implies the door was already open or being opened from inside during the fight.

The most straightforward mechanical explanations, none of which have been officially confirmed:

•  One of the two pilots opened or failed to keep the door locked while they were fighting.

•  The emergency-access timer expired because both men were occupied or one was already incapacitated.

•  The struggle itself compromised the lock long enough for people immediately outside to push in.

The off-duty pilots were reportedly sitting at the back.

A passenger near the front shouted at them to come forward after the door was already open.

That sequence is possible; it is also convenient, and one Israeli report floated (then left unconfirmed) that the extra crew might have been on board as part of a drill.

None of this proves the event was staged.

It does mean the public version still has a missing step: exactly how a locked, reinforced door became accessible in the middle of a knife fight at altitude.

Until Flydubai, the investigators, or the pilots themselves give a precise account of the door, that gap remains a reasonable place to keep asking questions.