Passengers from Flydubai plane arrive in Israel on rescue flight

Published September 30, 2026 12:41pm ET | Updated September 30, 2026 12:45pm ET



All passengers who survived an attempted hijacking of a Flydubai flight earlier on Wednesday landed safely at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, sparking celebrations.

After a passenger and crew member stormed the cabin and stopped the copilot from crashing the plane, other passengers and crew were able to stabilize the aircraft and make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. After a brief diplomatic tussle between Riyadh and Jerusalem over how to escort the passengers back home, they were loaded onto another Flydubai flight and flown back home, landing shortly before 7 p.m. local time after a 45-minute flight.

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