A BBC News clip about an attempted hijacking of a Flydubai flight: real or AI?

As shared

View the post on X

“A Flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv survived an attempted hijacking. Reportedly, passenger [name removed by us], described as an Indian national, attempted to hijack the Dubai Tel Aviv-bound flight.”

Posted on X by @ThokaReturns · Shown as an embedded post · Source

AI-MADE

The flight attack was real. This BBC report of it was not.

How sure we areVery high

Based on 2 strong and 2 supporting pieces of evidence.

What we found

The clip looks like a BBC News report in which presenter Sally Bundock names an Indian passenger as having tried to hijack Flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv. It was shared on X in early October 2026, days after a real attack on that flight on 30 September, when one pilot stabbed the other. The BBC told Full Fact the video is fake. Full Fact found genuine BBC footage of Bundock posted on 29 September, the day before the attack, in which she was talking about ChatGPT. It found no credible reports of any passenger by the name used in the clip, so we have left the name out. The suspect named by Israel was an Omani national, and the pilot who was stabbed was Indian. When big news breaks, look for the story on the news outlet's own website before trusting a clip that carries its logo.

Key facts

Original source: Posted on X by @ThokaReturns
First published: Not recorded
Earlier appearances: Not recorded
The claim you saw: “A Flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv survived an attempted hijacking. Reportedly, passenger [name removed by us], described as an Indian national, attempted to hijack the Dubai Tel Aviv-bound flight.” · not supported by the evidence
Signs of AI: Yes. Shown below, but not what decided it

The evidence, strongest first

Strong Decides the answer

Published fact-checkFull Fact, 2 October 2026 (the BBC confirmed the video is fake)↗BBC confirmationThe BBC confirmed to Full Fact that the video is fake.↗

Supporting Points the same way

What really happenedBBC News reported that one pilot stabbed another on the flight on 30 September 2026.↗Reuters reportReuters reporting on the attack and the investigation, 1 October 2026.↗

Weak Shown, not relied on

How it looksThe presenter's accent does not match her usual voice. Her lips go out of sync with the words around the mouth. The breaking news banner uses a different font from real BBC graphics, and a faint AI watermark sits in the top left corner over the BBC logo.

Detector scores are often wrong, so they never decide a verdict here.

What we couldn’t establish

Who made the fake clip, and how many times it has been viewed. If you know more, tell us.

Bottom line

The BBC says this clip is fake, and no credible outlet has reported the passenger it names.

See the original ↗Think we’re wrong?

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