The Media Line: From Hijacking Alert to False-Flag Claims: How Arab and Iranian Outlets Framed the Flydubai Incident 

From Hijacking Alert to False-Flag Claims: How Arab and Iranian Outlets Framed the Flydubai Incident 

Gulf outlets emphasized official statements and flight data, while some Iranian coverage folded the incident into broader claims about Israel and covert operations 

By Giorgia Valente and Steven Ganot / The Media Line 

Arabic- and Farsi-language news outlets began Wednesday with the same basic facts: a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv suddenly lost thousands of feet, transmitted emergency codes, and diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. 

After that, the accounts began to diverge. 

Al-Bayan, a Dubai-based Arabic-language daily published by Dubai Media Incorporated, and Akhbaar24, a Saudi digital news outlet owned by the Riyadh-based Saudi Research and Media Group, stayed close to airline and airport statements. Doha-based Al Jazeera, the Qatar-funded international news network, reconstructed the aircraft’s movements from flight-tracking data. The London-based pan-Arab newspaper and news site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed gave considerable prominence to Israel’s security response. Tehran-based Mehr News Agency and the Iranian news website Tabnak leaned heavily on Israeli and regional reporting, while Iran’s semiofficial Fars News Agency introduced a far more serious allegation involving a supposed Israeli false-flag operation. 

Within hours, the same flight was being presented as an aviation emergency, an Israeli security crisis, a suspected terror attack and, in some Iranian coverage, part of the confrontation between Israel and Iran. 

What Is Known About Flight FZ1073? 

Flight FZ1073, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 with registration A6-FKF, was flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv when it transmitted squawk code 7700, the international signal for a general emergency, and later 7500, which indicates unlawful interference. The aircraft diverted to Tabuk and landed safely. 

In a Reuters report headlined “Passengers overcame co-pilot who tried to crash Flydubai flight, Netanyahu says,” correspondents Alexander Cornwell and Rami Amichay reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the co-pilot stabbed the pilot and tried to crash the aircraft before passengers and a crew member subdued him. 

An Israeli official identified the alleged attacker to Reuters as an Omani national. Netanyahu said Saudi authorities arrested the co-pilot. Israeli officials told Reuters their assessment was that the incident was an attempted terror attack rather than a mental-health episode. Saudi authorities and Flydubai had not publicly issued findings establishing a motive. 

Reuters also reported that data from the Swedish flight-tracking service Flightradar24 showed the aircraft dropping nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds before the first emergency signal. 

Much of the Arab and Iranian coverage appeared before Netanyahu gave his later account of what happened aboard the aircraft, helping explain some of the contradictions in early reports. 

Al Jazeera Reconstructs the Flight 

Al Jazeera reporter Mohammed al-Za’anin concentrated on the aircraft’s movements in a report headlined, in English translation, “Sharp Descent, Hijacking Code and Alert: What Happened Aboard the Flydubai Flight?” 

Al-Za’anin wrote that data verified by Al Jazeera’s open-source unit showed the aircraft dropping from about 34,000 feet to 16,000 feet shortly before the emergency declaration. His report described the descent as “sharp and sudden” and cited calculated vertical speeds of roughly 14,000 to 18,000 feet per minute, far outside those normally recorded in commercial flight. 

The report laid out the sequence minute by minute. According to al-Za’anin, the abnormal descent began around 8:22 a.m. Saudi time. At about 8:32, near the Saudi-Jordanian border, the aircraft transmitted 7700. Minutes later it switched to 7500 before returning to the general-emergency code. The aircraft briefly entered Jordanian airspace before turning south toward Tabuk. 

Al-Za’anin also addressed a detail that initially fueled speculation: the aircraft’s disappearance from civilian tracking screens. He reported that it had moved beyond ground-based tracking coverage and later reappeared through satellite tracking. Its disappearance from the public tracking service did not necessarily mean air traffic controllers had lost contact with it. 

His report then turned to Israeli accounts of a violent confrontation between the pilots, while noting that Flydubai had not confirmed those details at the time. 

An earlier Al Jazeera breaking-news report, headlined “Report of Security Incident Aboard Plane That Took Off From Dubai for Tel Aviv and Changed Course,” showed how quickly the story was changing. It initially cited Israeli media reports of a possible hijacking and military alerts, then added Israeli reports that the episode involved a confrontation in the cockpit. 

How Did Two Gulf Outlets Approach It? 

In Dubai, aviation reporter Louay Abdullah of Al-Bayan, an Arabic-language daily newspaper, stayed closely with the airline’s official account. 

His report, headlined in translation, “Flydubai: Tel Aviv-Bound Flight Lands Safely at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia After In-Flight Incident,” quoted Flydubai describing an unspecified “incident during the flight” that required a precautionary diversion to Tabuk. 

“The safety of our passengers and crews remains our highest priority,” a Flydubai spokesman told Al-Bayan. 

Abdullah reported that everyone aboard was safe and that the airline was cooperating with the relevant authorities. He did not assign a motive or characterize the episode as terrorism. 

Akhbaar24, a Saudi digital news outlet, also focused on what happened after the diversion. Its Tabuk report, headlined in translation, “Emergency Landing of Flydubai Aircraft in Tabuk and Pilot and Co-Pilot Taken to Hospital,” concentrated on the pilots’ hospitalization, care for the passengers and arrangements for a replacement aircraft. 

By then, reports of a stabbing, terrorism and conflicting accounts of the pilots’ nationalities were already circulating elsewhere. 

Al-Araby Al-Jadeed Puts Israel’s Response Near the Center 

Al-Araby Al-Jadeed’s initial breaking report, filed from its Haifa desk, ran under a headline that translates as “Plane Carrying 150 Israelis Lands in Saudi Arabia After Changing Course.” 

Rather than reconstructing the flight in the detail Al Jazeera did, the report led with an account from Channel 12, an Israeli commercial television broadcaster, that approximately 150 Israelis were aboard and that the Israeli Air Force had put fighter aircraft on alert. It also cited Israeli Army Radio, the military-run national radio station, reporting that a fight between the pilots had led to the distress call. 

The report devoted considerable space to emergency consultations involving Netanyahu and senior Israeli security officials. 

The emphasis was different from Al-Bayan’s. The Dubai paper centered the airline and the safe landing; Al-Araby Al-Jadeed centered Israel’s response. 

Mehr Follows the Conflicting Versions 

Mehr News Agency, a Tehran-based Iranian news agency, initially relied heavily on reports from other media. 

One report, whose headline translates as “Incident on Dubai-Tel Aviv Flight With 150 Israeli Passengers; Hijacking Code Activated,” cited Russia Today, the Russian state-funded international broadcaster, and Israeli Army Radio. It reported the emergency signal, the estimated number of Israeli passengers and Israeli fears that the 7500 code could indicate a hijacking. It also noted that other Israeli reports were already suggesting the event might instead have resulted from a confrontation aboard the aircraft. 

A later Mehr report, “Contradictory Claims About Security Incident Involving Israeli Aircraft,” made those competing versions the focus. 

Citing Al Mayadeen, a Beirut-based pan-Arab satellite news channel, and Israeli television reports, Mehr laid out several accounts: that there had been no hijacking; that a dispute had occurred between the pilots; that reports differed over the pilots’ nationalities; and that one pilot may have intentionally put the aircraft into a rapid descent before the other intervened. 

The report did not settle on one version, instead presenting the uncertainty as part of the story. 

Tabnak Turns to the Political Consequences 

Tabnak, an Iranian news website, subsequently focused on the repercussions for Flydubai’s operations in Israel. 

A report headlined, in translation, “Request to Suspend All Flydubai Flights to Israel” said Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev had called for the carrier’s Israel service to be suspended while the incident was investigated. 

Citing Channel 12, Tabnak also reported that another Flydubai flight, FZ1081, had turned back toward Dubai. 

Its attention had moved from the events aboard FZ1073 to what they might mean for Israeli-Emirati air links. 

The False-Flag Claim 

The most consequential Iranian allegation came through Fars News Agency. 

Shafaq News, an Iraqi news agency covering Iraq, the Kurdistan Region and the wider Middle East, reported from Tehran under the headline “Israel Planning Aviation Attack to Blame Iran: Fars” that Fars had cited Iranian security agencies claiming Iran obtained intelligence suggesting Israel was considering an attack on an aircraft or airport in the region that could then be blamed on Tehran. 

According to the account, Iranian intelligence alleged that such an operation could cause civilian casualties and create grounds for increased international pressure on Iran. 

A false-flag operation is an act carried out by one party but designed to make another party appear responsible. 

Shafaq News reported that Fars placed the allegation alongside the diversion of Flight FZ1073. It also added a key caveat: “Fars presented no evidence linking the Flydubai incident to its allegations.” 

No independently verifiable evidence has emerged showing Israeli responsibility for the Flydubai incident. Netanyahu’s later account pointed instead to the co-pilot, whom he accused of stabbing the pilot and attempting to crash the aircraft. 

The Fars claim remains an allegation attributed to Iranian security bodies, not an established explanation of what happened aboard Flight FZ1073. 

What the Different Reports Emphasized 

Placed side by side, the reports differed as much in emphasis as in timing. 

Louay Abdullah’s Al-Bayan report stayed almost entirely with Flydubai’s limited public statement. Mohammed al-Za’anin at Al Jazeera worked from open-source flight data before bringing in reports about events inside the cockpit. Al-Araby Al-Jadeed’s Haifa desk concentrated more heavily on Israel’s military and political response. Mehr documented the competing versions circulating during the first hours of the incident. Tabnak followed the possible consequences for Flydubai’s Israel operations. Fars went furthest, placing the flight alongside an allegation of an Israeli false-flag operation. 

Some of that divergence reflects when the reports appeared. The first accounts were published while the aircraft was still airborne or shortly after it landed, when Israeli officials themselves were still trying to determine what had happened. Later coverage had Netanyahu’s public description of an alleged attempt to crash the plane. 

The outlets also chose different frames. For Al-Bayan, the story was largely an airline emergency. Al Jazeera treated it first as a flight-tracking and security puzzle. Al-Araby Al-Jadeed focused more closely on the Israeli response. Mehr documented the confusion surrounding the early accounts. Tabnak followed the political fallout. Fars placed the incident within the much larger Israel-Iran confrontation. 

The evidence behind those versions varies considerably. The aircraft’s descent and emergency codes can be checked against flight-tracking data. Flydubai’s statements and Netanyahu’s comments are on the record. Claims about motive or covert intelligence operations depend on the sources making them and whatever evidence they can produce. 

Fars has presented no evidence connecting Israel to Flight FZ1073, and no independent evidence supporting that allegation has emerged. For now, it remains one of the competing claims that grew around the flight as the story moved from an aviation emergency into the region’s political and information battles. 

Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

Click here to read the full article