Riyadh, October 8 – Saudi Arabia has launched an air safety probe into the flydubai incident on flight FZ1073, sources said. The Israel-bound Boeing 737 MAX was in Saudi airspace on September 30 when the co-pilot attacked the captain with an axe and threatened to crash the jet. The aircraft diverted after an emergency signal and survived a steep plunge. Nearly all 172 people aboard were Israeli citizens, and every passenger escaped injury.
The investigation follows Annex 13, which directs aviation safety probes toward recommendations rather than blame. Saudi authorities notified specialist agencies that they would examine the flydubai cockpit stabbing. It is unclear whether findings will be published. The National Transport Safety Center did not comment.
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) assigned a representative because the Boeing 737 MAX was built in the United States. The United Arab Emirates is automatically involved, as the jet is registered there and flydubai is based in Dubai. The UAE opened a criminal investigation that its prosecutor general called a terrorist attack.
Israel offered to join the Saudi air safety probe but has not been invited. Ofer Vaknin of Israel’s Aircraft Safety Investigation Authority said participation may be unnecessary, since this was not an aircraft failure.