An axe in the cabin and seven years to Flydubai: how a pilot with extremist materials ended up on a flight to Israel

Three days ago, it all started with an almost incredible story about the sudden fall of a Flydubai plane, a possible hijacking code, an injured captain, and an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. Now the UAE authorities officially speak of an attempted terrorist act. Pavel Shveyko gathered what has become known over these days about the person who was in the co-pilot's seat — and discovered a question that is becoming almost more important than the attack itself: why was he even allowed back into the cockpit of a passenger plane.

Author: Pavel Shveyko

On September 30, 2026, Flydubai flight FZ1073 departed from Dubai to Tel Aviv as a regular passenger flight. On board were more than 170 passengers and crew members, most of whom were Israelis. Somewhere over Saudi Arabia, the routine flight ended: the plane suddenly went down, communication with the cockpit became problematic, and the situation escalated to a signal of possible unlawful interference.

Initially, the information was contradictory. There were talks of a fight between pilots, a knife, an attempted hijacking, and even a medical incident. On the same day, NANovosti detailed the events of the flight and noted…

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