A Flydubai flight en route to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after a violent incident in the cockpit. According to consistent reports in the Israeli media, a pilot is said to have injured his colleague with a knife. Passengers therefore helped to overpower the attacker. It is now being examined whether the attacker tried to deliberately cause the plane to crash. There was initially no official confirmation of media reports that Israel was increasingly assuming a failed terrorist attack on the plane with around 180 Israeli passengers.
However, an unnamed senior Israeli government official told TV channel N12 that a serious disaster had been averted.
The plane turned over Saudi Arabia and landed at Tabuk Airport, Israeli media reports said. Flydubai confirmed an “incident” on board, according to Al-Arabija broadcaster.
Tabuk airport confirmed the emergency landing and said the captain and first officer were taken to hospital with injuries. There was initially no information about any other injuries.
It was previously reported that the plane first sent the code 7700, which indicates an emergency, and then the code 7500, which is used to report a hijacking.
The Israeli news portal “ynet” reported that the plane flew steeply at the beginning of the incident. One of the pilots prevented the other from crashing the plane with the help of passengers. A picture from on board the landed plane is said to show a passenger with a blood-stained shirt. One of the pilots suffered a stab wound. Initially there was only talk of a fight between the captain and the co-pilot.
The Israeli news portal “ynet” published a video message that appears to show an Israeli passenger with his face covered in blood on board immediately after the incident. “We have overwhelmed the terrorists,” he said. The landing is imminent. “We need help.”
The Israeli news portal “ynet” reported that the suspected co-pilot came from Oman. However, there was initially no official confirmation of this. Initially it was said that the pilot was of Russian origin and the co-pilot was of Ukrainian origin. According to the Moscow state news agency Tass, the Russian Consulate General in Dubai told the Moscow state news agency that the reports about a Russian pilot in the cockpit did not correspond to the facts. The consulate received information from the airline that there were no Russian citizens on board.
An Israeli woman told the TV station N12 that there was great fear among the passengers and that there were “screams and panic”. “Some men, including Israelis, stood up and overpowered the attacker,” she said. The plane's passengers are now doing well. “The situation could have ended differently,” she said.
Another Israeli woman told the station that she heard screaming on the plane and then saw a lot of blood in the cockpit. “There were moments when we thought we wouldn’t make it out alive.”
An Israeli spokeswoman confirmed that the suspected co-pilot was currently being questioned in Saudi Arabia. The Israeli passengers are reportedly waiting for their journey home.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the situation was under control and that everything was being done to ensure the safe return of Israeli passengers to their homeland.
According to N12, the passengers on board were instructed to remain seated and not to leave the aircraft. Only the two pilots were taken off board. It is still unclear whether they should be brought to Israel with a replacement aircraft or by the Israeli Air Force.
According to the flight data platform Flightradar24, two more Flydubai planes were on their way from Dubai to Tabuk - possibly to pick up the passengers stranded there. According to the platform, another of the airline's planes landed in Tel Aviv as planned, after reports at times about a return to Dubai.
The Emirates recognized Israel in 2020 as part of a rapprochement agreement and have since increased cooperation in the areas of economics and defense, among other things. Dubai has become a popular travel destination among Israelis in recent years. Netanyahu only traveled to the Emirates on Sunday at the invitation of President Mohammed bin Sajid.
Israel and Saudi Arabia do not yet have diplomatic relations, but according to media reports they are working together behind the scenes in some areas. A possible normalization of relations has been the subject of diplomatic efforts for years, but has been viewed as increasingly unlikely since the Gaza war.
