Fact check: Viral video does not show Dubai-Tel Aviv Flydubai flight at time of attempted hijacking

Multiple news outlets and people shared a video across social media platforms on Wednesday allegedly showing an Israel-bound Flydubai flight during a hijacking attempt. However, the clip is from Dubai and the audio is spliced in from a different, older video. Two pilots were wounded after they fought on board the plane they were flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv, and which was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Sept 30. The flydubai plane landed in Tabuk at 9:45am and its “captain and copilot were found to have injuries and were transported to hospital”, a statement from the company operating the airport said. Several Israeli media outlets reported that a fight had broken out between the plane’s pilots, reportedly causing a distress signal to be activated. Israeli media also reported that two other pilots were flying on the plane as passengers, and that they had taken over the controls to carry out the emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. How it started On Wednesday, the Pakistan Daily posted a video showing a Flydubai plane on Instagram with the following caption: “Dramatic footage reportedly captured by a passenger from the window of a Flydubai aircraft has emerged following an incident on board. The Dubai–Tel Aviv flight was diverted to Saudi Arabia and landed safely after a reported confrontation in the cockpit.” Sada News Agency posted the same clip with the following caption: “A video circulating on Israeli platforms shows the moment a plane descended more than 14,000 feet in one minute. Security sources do not rule out that the incident was security-related. - Translated by Sada News. Zamir cancels his visit to the United States after the security alert level is raised. Israel retracts its initial account and speaks of an attempted “terrorist” attack using the plane, which one pilot was prevented from carrying out by being stabbed and subdued by the other pilot with the help of passengers.” A local Arab media outlet, Sham TV, shared the same video on Facebook with the following caption: “A viral video of screams and panic inside the ‘Fly Dubai’ plane heading to ‘Tel Aviv’, which was carrying around 150 Israelis.” The post gained 13,000 views. A media outlet, Upuknews, shared the same video with the following caption: “Terrifying Footage Emerges From Flydubai Flight Incident. A passenger reportedly captured dramatic footage from the window of the Flydubai aircraft during the incident. The Dubai–Tel Aviv flight was diverted to Saudi Arabia and landed safely following the reported cockpit confrontation.” The post gained 274,000 views. Another X user shared the same clip with the following caption: “Watch: Terrifying footage of the incident, recorded from a passenger window aboard the aircraft flydubai- Yedioth Ahronot News.” The post racked up 856,000 views. Another user shared the same video with a similar caption, gaining 383,000 views. The same video was posted by another account with the following caption: “Footage from inside the cabin shows the aircraft’s dramatic dive: passengers can be heard screaming as the plane rapidly loses altitude. According to reports, shortly afterwards passengers intervened in the cockpit incident, brought the situation under control and helped stabilise the aircraft before its emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.” The post accumulated 84,600 views. Several other users also shared the clip across YouTube and X, as can be seen here, here, here, and here; collectively accumulating 74,300 views. Methodology A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its high virality and keen public interest in the hijacking incident. The video was analysed to determine the location where the footage was recorded. The aircraft can be seen flying in the direction of Terminal 2, towards Dubai International Airport for landing, as can be seen in the snapshot of Google Maps. The Flydubai plane can be seen flying over a water channel in the viral clip. A comparison with satellite imagery on Google Maps showed that the waterway is an inlet channel located in Dubai, separating the Dubai islands from the mainland.   Additional visuals from the viral video were also compared with aerial imagery of Dubai on Google Maps. Several identifiable geographical features and locations in the viral clip matched Dubai's landscape, indicating the visuals were filmed while flying over Dubai.   However, checking news articles from mainstream international media outlets such as BBC, France 24, CNN, and Gulf News showed that Flydubai flight FZ1073 was travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv. The flight was subsequently diverted to Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia, while Saudi authorities reportedly detained the alleged attacker. A screenshot of the flight route from the flight-tracking service Flightradar also corroborated the same. In contrast to the claims in the viral captions that alleged the video showed the moment of descent or when the altercation aboard the plane occurred, Flightradar said that the flight was along the Saudi-Jordan border when the series of incidents occurred. As can be seen in the flight path, there was no nearby body of water at the time the incident occurred, in contrast to the water seen in the viral video. Furthermore, the audio in the video was traced to a Facebook post shared on September 30, 2022, with different visuals. The same audio starts at the 15-second mark. The post was captioned: “This plane hit some bad turbulence over the Andes.” https://www.facebook.com/uniladmag/videos/scary-flight-turbulence/2883122371983371/ The video shows passengers screaming out of fear due to turbulence in the flight. A user in the comments section mentioned his experience on the same flight, mentioning that it was from the United States to Amsterdam. Fact-check status: False The claim that a viral video shows the Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv at the moment an attempted hijacking occurred is false. The video is from Dubai and edited with audio of a different incident from 2022, whereas the hijacking occurred over Saudi/Jordanian airspace. --------------------- This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.