France

Paris, October 1, 2026. The French press is treating the flydubai FZ1073 flight incident primarily as a security issue: what happened in the cockpit, and is the terrorist lead valid? The Boeing 737, which departed from Dubai for Tel Aviv, lost nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds over Jordan, according to Flightradar24 cited by L'Express, and then emitted codes 7700 and 7500 before landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Headlines are repeating the version of Benyamin Netanyahu: one of the pilots "stabbed the other pilot" and "apparently tried to crash the plane." Itamar Ben Gvir is talking about a "terrorist" who wanted to "assassinate the 180 Israelis" on board, while Israel Katz refers to a "jihadist attack attempt." However, Le Monde and Sud Ouest note that the minister did not specify what elements he was basing his claim on, and that neither the airline nor Riyadh has corroborated this hypothesis. Flydubai considers the reasons for the altercation "unknown" and calls for "refraining from any premature speculation." Donald Trump mentions, according to 20 Minutes, "maybe a terrorist or maybe a crazy person."

The details of the incident are being widely reported. BFMTV reports that the Israeli army scrambled fighter jets, fearing a hijacking, a hypothesis that was quickly dismissed. Le Monde dedicates an article to the "gray areas": an electrical outage on board, screams, and a piracy alert seven minutes after an initial signal. According to BFMTV, the co-pilot is Omani and the commander is Emirati, while 20 Minutes identifies the injured pilot as Indian Smit Machchhar, who is hospitalized in Tabuk; Libération recalls nearly 10,000 hours of flight experience.

Passenger testimonies are giving the story its tone. Sud Ouest quotes Miriam Shira Ohayon: the plane "was really about to crash." Yitzhak Lieber says he helped neutralize "an armed terrorist with a knife," and Netanyahu hugged a passenger wearing a blood-stained t-shirt in Tel Aviv, paying tribute to the "heroes."

The political aspect is being addressed more briefly. Le Monde reports the comments of Eden Bar Tal, director general of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who says the attack also targeted "the United Arab Emirates and the Abraham Accords." Flydubai has suspended all its flights to and from Israel during the investigation, which the Saudi authorities are conducting with the interrogation of the suspect; the number of passengers varies according to the articles, from 130 to 180.