Finland

Helsinki, October 1, 2026. The Finnish press is recounting the story of flydubai's FZ1073 flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv in two stages: the emergency and then the search for weaknesses. On Wednesday, September 30, the plane made an emergency landing in Tabouk, in northwest Saudi Arabia. Helsingin Sanomat recalls that initial reports, based on anonymous sources cited by CNN and Reuters, mentioned a "violent incident" between the two pilots, before Benyamin Netanyahu stated that one pilot had stabbed the other and then tried to crash the plane.

Yle is detailing what is known about the incident. According to Flightradar, the Boeing was flying at an altitude of over 10 kilometers, heading towards the Jordanian border, and lost more than 5 kilometers in two minutes. CNN reports a 7500 signal, the code for hijacking. Yle specifies that, according to Israeli authorities, the only suspect is the co-pilot, an Omani national, while Oman has no diplomatic relations with Israel. The contract between flydubai and Israel would require pilots from countries with such relations: how this man was able to fly to Tel Aviv remains, according to Yle, an open question. The commander is Indian.

Ilta-Sanomat is focusing on the debate about safety. CNN expert Alex Plitsas believes that protocols are mainly aimed at threats from passengers or external terrorists, and that the aggressor took advantage of "most of the system's weaknesses". Cockpits have been lockable from the inside since 2001, but these measures also targeted external threats.

Passenger accounts are playing a significant role. Ilta-Sanomat is relaying Yaniv Hayun's story: he allegedly subdued the aggressor with a chokehold, then took control of the plane, telling Netanyahu that he knew what to do thanks to a TV series about air accidents. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is talking about a attempted jihadist attack. HS quotes a passenger who claims to have heard "Allahu akbar" before the plane's descent.

However, the Finnish media is remaining cautious. HS notes that the authorities have not confirmed the events of the flight, and MTV states that witness statements have not been verified and that it is unknown whether the goal was to crash the plane or take hostages. MTV also mentions a video published by Reuters and the BBC, in which a bloodied man says that the passengers subdued "the terrorists".