US President Donald Trump said Iran may be linked to the FlyDubai copilot accused of stabbing the captain and attempting to crash an Israel-bound passenger jet, while investigators continued to examine the motive behind the attack.
Asked at the White House whether he had been briefed on possible links between the suspect and Tehran, Mr Trump said: “We’re working on it right now.”
“I would say the answer, based on what I’m hearing, is yes, but we’re working on it right now,” he added, without providing details.
Mr Trump also warned that Iran would face a forceful response if it were found to have been behind the incident. “Oh they’ll be hit, very hard, don’t worry,” he said. “You just ask them. They know what happened. They’ll be hit very hard.”
The claim remained unsubstantiated in the available accounts. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu separately said it was too early to determine whether Iran was involved. Oman’s government had not commented.
The FlyDubai aircraft was carrying 174 people, most of them Israelis, from the United Arab Emirates to Tel Aviv when the copilot allegedly attacked the captain. The plane descended sharply before passengers and other crew members entered the cockpit and helped stabilise the aircraft, which later landed in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Passengers described a chaotic struggle to regain control. Asaf Rajuan, one of those who intervened, said in a statement shared by Israel’s presidency: “We felt helpless, suspended in mid-air, and I didn’t know who to turn to. But it was all instinct to survive.”
The aircraft descended from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet in about a minute, according to Flightradar24, which identified it as a Boeing 737 Max 8. The flight then made an erratic circle near the Jordanian border before landing in Tabuk.
A person who heard the plane’s communications with air-traffic control described the pilot calling “mayday” and saying that a hijacking was taking place, with passengers screaming in the background. The aircraft was reportedly turned away by Saudi Arabia and Jordan before it landed in Tabuk. The available account did not give a reason for those refusals.
A regional official briefed on the investigation said the suspect, an Omani citizen, was under arrest. Saudi authorities were working with Israel and other countries to establish what had happened and why, the official said. The United Arab Emirates, the United States and Oman were also involved.
“All possible scenarios, from terrorism to mental disorders, are being looked into. Nothing is ruled out for now,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Mr Netanyahu said the attacker had undergone Islamist indoctrination but did not provide details. Asked who had radicalised the man, he said he did not know and that Israel was co-operating with the UAE investigation.
“We’ll get to the bottom of things,” Mr Netanyahu told Fox News.
The UAE government said its own investigative team had begun examining the attack and whether it was connected to a terrorist purpose. The government said the UAE had jurisdiction because the aircraft was registered there and UAE law applied to crimes committed on board.
Mr Netanyahu said Israel had requested that the suspect be sent to Israel for questioning, although it was unclear whether Saudi Arabia would agree. Another regional official said Israeli intelligence and security officials were in Saudi Arabia to assist with the investigation.
Mr Netanyahu also said that he had spoken with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who agreed that Israel would participate in the interrogation of the suspect. Saudi Arabia does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel, although the supplied account said the two countries have co-operated on security and intelligence matters through alternative channels.
The suspect’s name had not been released, and his condition was not known. Video recorded inside the plane by Shota Musayev, a dentist who treated the captain, showed the copilot on his knees with his hands tied behind his back.
Captain Smit Machchhar was reported to be in stable condition, according to the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia. FlyDubai said crew members had helped secure the aircraft but did not provide further details about their actions.
An off-duty British pilot also helped rescue the plane, according to a passenger account. Philip Kean, head of the New Zealand flight school where Captain Machchhar trained, described the aircraft’s survival of the steep descent as “miraculous”. Mr Trump praised Boeing for producing an aircraft that he said had withstood forces and strain beyond its intended design.
The incident comes as the United States increases its military presence in the Middle East amid its conflict with Iran. A US official told The Associated Press that roughly 9,000 troops were being dispatched aboard ships to the region. The group includes more than 7,000 sailors and 2,000 Marines, as well as the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group and the USS Makin Island amphibious readiness group.
The movement could bring three US aircraft carriers into the region as early as the end of October, according to the official, who spoke anonymously to discuss sensitive military operations. With forces already deployed, the number of US sailors and Marines in the Middle East could rise above 20,000, alongside hundreds of aircraft.
Mr Trump has also said that further strikes against Iran were possible. In an interview with Time magazine, he said he might intensify bombing after the US November 3 elections, although he declined to describe his strategy. He said he had rejected Iran’s latest ceasefire proposal, including an offer to “open up” the Strait of Hormuz, because the overall proposal was not acceptable.
The president’s comments about a possible Iranian connection to the aircraft incident came against that broader military backdrop. However, the investigation had not established such a link in the available reporting, and officials continued to consider multiple explanations.
The aircraft was carrying passengers from Israel, India and the UAE, while the US State Department said four passengers were American citizens. FlyDubai said it would suspend flights to and from Israel. Mr Netanyahu said Israel planned to bring home people stranded in Dubai as a result.
Israel had been approaching the anniversary of the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack, which triggered the war in Gaza, and was also weeks away from an election. Mr Netanyahu said Israel had received no specific warning of an attack, despite having warned in recent days of heightened security threats.
