On 30 September 2026, Flydubai Flight 1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv was forced into an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after one pilot reportedly attacked the other. The UAE’s attorney general has since described it as an attempted terrorist act, though investigators are still probing the motive. Passengers and crew reportedly fought to regain control of the cockpit before the plane landed. Whatever they find, the incident revives a long-standing question: why do terrorists keep targeting aviation?”
Why Aircraft Attract Terrorists
Terrorism scholars point to three overlapping reasons.
• A national symbol: An airliner carries its country’s flag and citizens, so attacking it means attacking the nation itself. Foreign passengers also drag other governments into the crisis and a global audience is appealed.
• A tactical opportunity: Aircraft are vulnerable to small explosive charges, double as mobile hostage platforms, and can even be turned into weapons.
• A global stage: Terrorists are weaker than the states they fight, so spectacle multiplies their power. Fear of flying and economic fallout amplify the damage far beyond the victims and intensify their endeavour of disruption & entropy to wider global media houses.
Terrorism or Just a Hijacking?
Motive is the dividing line. Soviet-bloc defectors seized planes to claim asylum, Cuban hijackers wanted passage to Havana, and the “Dan Cooper” hijacker wanted ransom. Most definitions hinge on political motive rather than violence alone.
Three Phases of Aviation Terrorism
1. Political hijackings- In July 1968, Palestinian militants seized an El Al flight and took it to Algiers, widely regarded as the first deliberate attack on a national carrier for political effect. Israeli hostages were held for over a month until Israel freed sixteen Arab prisoners. George Habash, who led the PFLP, argued a hijacking achieved more than killing a hundred Israelis in a war, because it made the world notice Palestinians. Copycats soon followed.
2. Bombings- A bombing forfeit hostages as bargaining chips but the shock and public fear are the payoff. Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in 1988 killed 270 people and ISIS claimed the 2015 Russian Metrojetbombing over Sinai, which killed 224.
3. Aircraft as weapons- On 9/11, suicide hijackers needed no hostages, bargaining or bombs. Four planes were seized and nearly three thousand people died, widely regarded as the deadliest terrorist attack ever. Their targets were symbols of American economic and military power, echoing the logic of 1968.
The Cat-and-Mouse Game
Security and tactics evolve together. After 1968, Israel hardened its airline security, so in 1972 attackers struck Lod Airport’s terminal instead. As carry-on searches and metal detectors spread, attempted hijackings fell by roughly two-thirds in the early 1970s, while bombings increased. Each upgrade closed one door and propelled attackers toward another, a loop that still continues & echoes.
Key Takeaway
Terrorists target aviation for its symbolism, global attention value and security has changed how attacks are carried out more than it has ended them. Today, experts still regard bombing as the most serious continuing threat. Whatever investigators conclude about Flight 1073, the pattern endures:where defences tighten, determined attackers adapt.
