A flight from Dubai to Israel landed in Saudi Arabia after an alleged fight between the pilots.
An Israeli passenger on board the flight told reporters that the passengers helped restrain and tie up one of the pilots after the crew asked for help.
This flight of Fly Dubai had left on Wednesday morning. According to flight tracking website Flightradar24, the plane issued an emergency code about two hours after takeoff.
After a few minutes the plane changed it to hijacking code. However, later it was again changed to normal emergency signal.
Anonymous Israeli officials told the media that one pilot stabbed another pilot. According to officials, either the pilot wanted to hijack the plane or crash it. However, let us tell you that the motive of the attacking pilot is not clear yet and we have not yet received any official statement in this regard.
A passenger on board the flight told Israeli newspaper Haaretz that the plane lost control and began a "rapid fall" about an hour before the scheduled landing.
This passenger named Dalia Spiegel told the newspaper that "suddenly scary screams started echoing throughout the plane." "Three to five people then entered the cockpit", overpowered the attacker, and began treating the injured pilot.
Spiegel said, "We thought the situation was under control and we continued the flight. Gradually information about what happened in the cockpit began to emerge."
He said these “young people” then took over the responsibility and started helping the passengers. Meanwhile the plane changed its course and went for landing in Saudi Arabia.
In a video shared with Israeli media, a witness aboard the plane was reportedly seen saying that "an assailant with a knife" attacked a pilot.
This video has been verified by BBC Verify. There are no signs of tampering through AI.
In the video, the person sitting on the plane seat can be heard talking to the camera. "We took control of the flight and one of the pilots was attacked by an attacker with a knife," he says.
He reports that the alleged attacker was ejected from the cockpit and everything is now "fine."
He says, "One pilot is seriously injured."
"A second pilot is also injured, but is in good condition to land the plane. He has two crew members with him. We made sure the doors were closed. I love you all and everything is OK."
Flight FZ1073 took off from Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates. There were about 150 to 180 people on board, most of whom were Israeli citizens.
Flydubai company has said that both the captain and the first officer were injured in the incident and have been admitted to the hospital.
A statement issued by the company said that the Air Traffic Control Center had received a signal for an emergency landing at 8.44 pm local time.
A passenger named Elmog Itali told the media that the two pilots who took over the plane were relief pilots who were to operate the subsequent flight.
“One of them was a British pilot,” Itali said. He said the second pilot was European, but did not reveal his nationality.
A woman named Yasmin told that her daughter was also on the flight going from Dubai to Tel Aviv. The daughter called them and told them that she heard screaming on the plane. A pilot was calling for help.
According to data from Flightradar24, the plane suddenly changed direction over Saudi Arabia and began a rapid descent. The plane descended 17,000 feet, or more than 5,000 meters, in less than two minutes.
The Israeli military said in a statement that Army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir assessed the situation with the air force commander and other military officials.
A flydubai spokesperson confirmed that the flight "encountered an incident en route...Our teams are working closely with the relevant authorities."
