Two crew members of a Saudi military helicopter have been killed in a crash in the Najran region of south-western Saudi Arabia, on the border with Yemen. The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen announced the deaths on Sunday. According to the coalition, the aircraft was an AH-6i reconnaissance helicopter belonging to the Saudi Ministry of National Guard, and it came down because of a technical malfunction13. The Houthis say they shot down a Saudi helicopter. On the same day the Kingdom Centre, one of the best-known towers in Riyadh, ordered all its office staff to work from home2.

What the coalition says

Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki said in a statement that the AH-6i crashed inside Saudi territory in the Najran region, in an area that falls under the Ministry of National Guard12. "The accident resulted in the martyrdom of its aircrew, consisting of two officers," he said, according to the official Saudi Press Agency as quoted by AFP2. Al-Maliki offered his condolences to the families3. The coalition gave no further details about the circumstances of the crash3. The names of the two officers have not been released, and the time of the crash has not been given4.

The AH-6i is a light reconnaissance and attack helicopter built by Boeing4. It is a different and much smaller type than the AH-64 Apache, the heavy attack helicopter that Saudi Arabia also operates.

What the Houthis claim

Late on Saturday, before the coalition issued its statement, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on X that the group had shot down a Saudi Apache near Najran. He said the helicopter had been attacking Houthi positions along the border12. Al-Maliki responded on Sunday with a photo of a row of Apaches on a ramp and the words: "You claim to have shot it down, but it will enter the battlefield soon"1. The two accounts contradict each other. The type the Houthis name, an Apache, is not the type the coalition says crashed. Neither account has been independently confirmed.

Kingdom Centre sends offices home

The Kingdom Centre is a 99-storey tower in central Riyadh. Its tenants include Merrill Lynch, McKinsey and the International Monetary Fund2. Building management told tenants by email that remote working is mandatory for all office employees, effective immediately and until further notice. "Kindly refrain from attending the offices during this period," said the email, which AFP has seen. Management gave no reason. The shopping mall at the foot of the tower remains open2. AFP places the decision in the series of Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia. Overnight into Sunday, the coalition said it intercepted two drones over the Riyadh region and a third over the Eastern Province, as well as two ballistic missiles in the south of the country24.

Attacks on Riyadh airport

The decision comes just over a week after King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh was hit several times. On 8 October three Saudi nationals were killed there, including a Saudia pilot, according to the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), and a Saudia aircraft was damaged7. In the attack on Saturday 10 October, 12 people were killed and more than 300 injured, according to the coalition; the Indian embassy later reported a 13th death. A day later a projectile struck terminals 3 and 4, which handle domestic flights, killing one person and injuring 11, according to GACA8. The Houthis claimed the attacks up to and including 10 October8.

Reports differ on the airport's current status. According to The National, King Khalid reopened on Sunday6; AFP wrote on the same day that the airport remains closed2.

What it means for pilots and crew

Since 30 September, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has advised operators through a Conflict Zone Information Bulletin on the airspace of Saudi Arabia, CZIB-2026-09-R1. It covers the whole Jeddah FIR at all altitudes and flight levels and is valid until 16 November unless reviewed earlier. Operators should not operate in two defined portions of the airspace along the FIR boundary and should exercise caution in the rest of the Jeddah FIR. EASA also asks for an up-to-date risk assessment, a high level of contingency planning and readiness for short-notice instructions from the Saudi authorities5.

The bulletin sets out the risks for crews. The south and south-west of the country are the most exposed because of their proximity to Yemen, but attacks have also been aimed at targets deeper inside the kingdom, in the Riyadh, Tabuk, Medina and Yanbu areas. According to EASA, recent attacks have focused more on aviation infrastructure, increasing the risk to aircraft on the ground and during take-off and landing. Missiles, drones and active air defences also create a risk of misidentification of civil aircraft, of interception activity nearby and of falling debris. EASA notes that Saudi Arabia has shown it can manage its airspace effectively, including through Emergency Security Control of Air Traffic (ESCAT) measures5. The Houthis themselves have said that any aircraft in Saudi airspace is a target, except over Mecca and Medina7.

Many airlines are not flying to Saudi Arabia for now, or are flying less. KLM has cancelled all flights to Riyadh and Dammam up to 31 October. Lufthansa has suspended Riyadh until 18 November and Dammam through 30 November, and Air France has suspended Riyadh until 24 October. British Airways plans to return to Riyadh on 3 November with one flight a day. Emirates has cancelled or rescheduled flights from Dubai to Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, with six Dubai to Riyadh services listed again for 20 October. Qatar Airways has temporarily suspended Riyadh and Dammam without a restart date6.

The background

The war between the Saudi-led coalition, which backs Yemen's internationally recognised government, and the Iran-backed Houthis flared up again in July after years of relative calm4. According to Reuters, the conflict has become another front in the war between the United States and Iran1. AFP reports that the Houthis have declared a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia and captured territory around the Bab al-Mandab strait, while the coalition carries out air strikes on Houthi territory2. Egypt is considering helping Saudi Arabia defend itself. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said he was willing to "carry out any measure to protect" the kingdom if its leaders requested it, and stressed that he was talking only about defence21.