A flydubai Boeing 737 bound for Tel Aviv dropped about 16,000 feet in two minutes on Wednesday while its pilots fought in the cockpit. The plane landed safely at Tabuk airport in north-western Saudi Arabia, and families waiting on the ground spent a frightening few hours not knowing why.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said one of the pilots stabbed the other and meant to crash the aircraft. According to him, a passenger broke into the cockpit together with a crew member, and the two “neutralised” the attacking pilot. He called it “an extremely severe security incident” and thanked those who stepped in. “They saved many lives and prevented a major disaster,” he said.
Minutes of alarm over Jordan
The jet was over Jordan when it sent out three emergency signals, one of them indicating possible unlawful interference. Israeli officials, fearing a hijacking of a plane full of their citizens, scrambled fighter jets. Flightradar24 data showed the first general emergency signal came about two and a half hours after departure from Dubai. Israeli officials said between 160 and 180 passengers were aboard, almost all of them Israelis.
Passenger Miryam Shira Ohayon described a plane “pretty much out of control.” Speaking to reporters through a phone held up by her mother at Ben Gurion Airport, she said: “The co-pilot tried to murder the pilot and basically carry out a suicide attack on the plane.” Another passenger’s mother, Yasmin Abukasis, said her daughter told her she heard screaming and saw a man pull a knife and force the pilot to the floor. A video from inside the cabin, shared by Israeli social media users, showed a passenger with blood running from a head wound pleading for help as the plane descended toward Saudi Arabia.
Tabuk airport said the plane touched down at 9.45am local time and that both pilots were taken to hospital with injuries.
Who was involved
An Israeli official identified the attacker as an Omani national, Reuters reported. The co-pilot is believed to have stabbed the captain. Defence Minister Israel Katz and other officials described it as an attempted terrorist attack. Nothing in the reports describes the suspect’s motive, and the investigation is continuing.
US Attorney General Todd Blanche said Washington was coordinating “very closely” with counterparts abroad, Israel among them.
Getting people home
Saudi Arabia, which has no diplomatic relations with Israel, turned down an Israeli request to send military planes to bring its citizens back, two security sources told Reuters. A second flydubai flight, FZ1081, also from Dubai to Tel Aviv, briefly appeared on tracking data to be turning back toward the UAE. It then continued and landed at Ben Gurion at 3.34pm GMT, carrying passengers from the earlier flight.
