Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said one of the pilots of a Flydubai plane that made an emergency landing at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia was likely trying to cause the plane to crash.
A Flydubai Boeing 737 Max 8 operated flight FZ1073 from Dubai International Airport to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. There were 174 passengers on board (including 27 children), most of whom were Israelis.
“During the flight, while approaching Israel, one of the pilots stabbed another pilot and apparently tried to cause the plane to crash with passengers on board,” Netanyahu said.
“I spoke to one of the Israeli passengers. He told me that the plane went into a tailspin and began to descend. He said he somehow managed to break into the cockpit with one of the crew members, and together they subdued the pilot, who was stabbed while he was trying to disable the plane's systems. Another member of the flight crew on board entered the cockpit and managed to stabilize the plane,” the Israeli prime minister added.
He called the passengers who prevented the crash heroes. According to Netanyahu, they “saved many lives and prevented a major disaster.”
The Israeli prime minister also said that Saudi Arabian authorities had arrested the attacker (co-pilot of the plane) and were interrogating him.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the incident was an "attempted jihadist attack." The minister did not explain on what information this conclusion was based.
Meanwhile, Flydubai said its investigation into the incident was ongoing.
“At this early stage, the causes and motives for this incident are unknown and remain the subject of an official investigation. We urge all parties to refrain from making hasty assumptions while authorities gather the facts,” the statement said.
A plane flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday night plummeted down more than four kilometers in half a minute.
As a result, Flydubai pilots took control, flying as passengers in order to change the crew on another flight. They managed to land the plane at the airport in the city of Tabuk in northeastern Saudi Arabia.
Israeli media previously reported, citing representatives of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, that the alarm signal from the aircraft was apparently issued after a quarrel between the pilot-in-command and the co-pilot.
Flydubai also confirmed that there was a conflict in the cockpit and airline staff on board took control of the aircraft.
The crew made the first emergency signal about two hours into the flight, Flightradar24 reports. The flight took off at 03:05 UTC (the same time as Greenwich Mean Time) with a 20-minute delay.
Passengers told reporters at the landing site that they feared for their lives. According to Flightradar24, at 5:22 UTC the plane sharply descended over Saudi Arabia from 9,410 to 5,105 meters (4.3 km) in just 29 seconds.
Alarm code 7700, meaning "general emergency", was sent at approximately 05:31 UTC. Flightradar24 later reported to X that at 05:38 another emergency signal was sent - 7500, meaning "unlawful interference", that is, an attempt to hijack or hijack an aircraft.
As the Israeli channel Channel 12 reported, the fight between the PIC and the co-pilot continued until one of them lost consciousness.
As a result, the crew asked for help, after which the passengers helped to twist the attacker and tie him to a chair. Video recordings taken inside the cabin show that many passengers were covered in blood.
According to another passenger, people at the front of the plane helped push the attacker out of the cabin. According to him, there were two more pilots on board, in the rear of the plane.
“I shouted at them to run and take control of the plane,” the passenger told the Jerusalem Post.
The passenger also reported that the injured pilot received emergency medical care from a dentist on board.
After landing, the captain and co-pilot were taken to hospital, Saudi airport operator Cluster2 said.
According to Cluster2 Airports, they took off from Saudi Arabia at 17:40 local time (14:40 GMT). A little later it became known that the passengers landed safely in Israel.
