Peru

Lima, October 1, 2026. The Peruvian press is covering the flydubai FZ1073 flight incident based on agency dispatches and Israeli media reports, with the story evolving by the hour. RPP Noticias reported on Wednesday, September 30, that a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight had been diverted to Saudi Arabia, which Israeli media described as a pilot stabbing another. The Israeli Ministry of Transportation initially spoke of an "altercation between the crew".

The tone hardened with a video from Israeli Channel 12, picked up by RPP: three bloodied passengers were seen monitoring the two pilots on the ground near the cockpit. "They attacked us and we controlled the terrorist," they said. However, RPP noted that the information remained "confused" and that there was no official data pointing to a clear hypothesis. According to Israeli media cited in the same article, a possible hijacking by the Omani co-pilot may have targeted an Emirati pilot.

El Comercio headlined a statement by Benyamin Netanyahu, according to which one of the pilots tried to crash the plane after stabbing his colleague. Andina recalled that the Israeli government had described the incident as an "attack". RPP also relayed Channel 12: a pilot was being questioned to determine if he had wanted to take the plane and throw it at the passengers.

Technical aspects played a significant role. According to the flight trajectory cited by RPP, the plane suddenly turned north before the Jordanian border and lost altitude, then followed an irregular course before turning back towards Tabouk. Andina, citing the Saudi airport, reported that the tower received a distress call at 08:44 local time and that the landing took place at 9:45. The captain and co-pilot were hospitalized.

The airline's statement was reported accurately. flydubai initially mentioned a "disagreement in the cockpit" and asked to refrain from "premature speculation". It then suspended its flights to and from Israel during the investigation and promised to review the measure based on available information. The Indian embassy in Riyadh confirmed that Indian pilot Smit Machchhar was "stable"; the fate of the co-pilot remained unknown at this stage.

The Peruvian coverage remained factual and little editorialized: no regional reading specific to Lima, little context on the relations between Israel, the Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, and a marked dependence on Israeli sources and the EFE agency.