Archive photo of a Boeing 737-8 Smartwings. Photo: Shutterstock A Smartwings flight en route to Tel Aviv from Prague was forced to return to the airport in the Czech Republic after a malfunction was discovered in one of its engines during the flight last night, August 10, 2026.
This is flight QS1286, which took off from Vaclav Havel Airport in Prague with 189 passengers on board.
According to details provided to PassportNews, about half an hour after takeoff, a loud noise was heard in the plane and it later turned out that there was a malfunction in one of the engines. The plane's crew made the decision to abort the flight to Israel and return to Prague.
Flightradar24 data confirms that flight QS1286, which took off from Prague at night at 11:30 PM Prague time, was diverted back to Prague and did not continue to Tel Aviv.
This is a Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft from the Czech company.
The plane circled in the air before landing. After the decision to return to the airport of departure, the plane remained in the air for about another hour before landing in Prague.
At around 2:00 AM local time, the plane landed safely at Prague Airport. No injuries were reported.
Smartwings said that there was no danger to passengers, and that the incident was handled in accordance with procedures. An alternative plane and crew were provided for the passengers.
After landing, the company began rapid preparations to continue flying the 189 passengers to Israel.
Smartwings provided a replacement plane and crew, and the passengers set off once again on their way to Tel Aviv in the morning, around 6:15 AM, after a total delay of about five hours.
As of this morning, the replacement plane is already making its way to Israel.
The incident ended without casualties, and the passengers were also treated by the company's representatives in Israel until preparations for the alternative flight were complete.