Conflicting information shared from the first moment about what happened on the United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based Flydubai plane, which had to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia during the Dubai-Tel Aviv flight, increased the uncertainties regarding the incident.
The plane lost thousands of feet of altitude during the Dubai-Tel Aviv flight yesterday morning and circled in the air for a while sending emergency and hijacking codes over the Saudi Arabia-Jordan border.
The incident, which occurred hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that "there were indications of an attack" on September 29, caused panic in Israel.
While it was reported that Netanyahu held an emergency meeting with his staff, Chief of General Staff Eyal Zamir made evaluations with Israeli army commanders, and Israeli jets took off against a possible hijack attempt, later in the news in the Israeli press, it was claimed that a decision was made to shoot down the Flydubai plane in case of such a hijack attempt.
ISRAELI INITIALLY SAID THAT THERE WAS NOT A "HIJACK INCIDENT"
After the plane was contacted again and landed at the airport in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, different explanations began to emerge about what happened.
First, allegations in the press came to the fore that one of the pilots of the plane was Russian and the other was Ukrainian, and that an alarm was raised due to the fight between the pilots.
It was stated that one of these pilots injured the other with a cutting tool, and then, after regaining control and establishing contact with the plane, the plane landed in Tabuk.
After the plane landed, the Israeli press stated that the incident was not an attempt to hijack the plane and that it could have been a suicide attempt, and claimed a "terrorist" attack in the news at noon, citing Israeli officials.
While Israeli ministers were using statements pointing to a "terrorist attack attempt", Netanyahu, in his statement in the evening, claimed that there was evidence that one of the pilots "intended to crash the plane".
THE INFORMATION REFLECTED IN THE ISRAELI PRESS RAISED QUESTION MARKS
What was reported in the Israeli press regarding the incident was, "Why did the plane return to Saudi Arabia after entering Jordanian airspace? How did the passengers get into the cockpit of the plane and prevent the plane from crashing? How did the pilot put the knife into the plane?" It brought up many questions that are difficult to answer without official confirmation, such as:
In the evaluations regarding why the plane returned to Tabuk city of Saudi Arabia after entering Jordanian airspace, it was pointed out that Israel closed its airspace to the suspicious plane, it was close to Tabuk in terms of distance and the air traffic was less dense there.
While the Israeli press first claimed that one of the pilots was Russian and the other was Ukrainian, it later claimed that the co-pilot who allegedly tried to hijack or crash the plane was Omani.
It was claimed that the co-pilot tried to crash the plane by stabbing the captain pilot, who was announced to be from India, and then the Israeli passengers and another pilot team on the plane entered the cockpit and regained control of the plane.
The Jerusalem Post reported on the presence of another pilot crew on the plane, stating that "additional pilots were included in the flight because possible regional route changes could extend the journey and cause the original crew to exceed their permitted duty hours." He included his statements.
HOW DID THE COCKPIT DOOR OPEN?
International procedures in the field of aviation changed after September 11, 2001, when plane attacks were carried out on the USA, and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) made decisions specifically to protect the cockpit.
While ICAO mandated armored doors on all passenger planes, strict rules were implemented, such as keeping these doors closed during the flight, opening them only from the inside, passwords created for cabin crew to enter can be rejected by the pilots inside, and cameras being placed so that the pilots can see who wants to enter.
While these difficulties made it almost impossible for Israeli passengers to enter the cockpit, the media coverage of Israeli passengers entering the cockpit raised a question mark.
It was later recorded that the door was opened by the Indian captain pilot during the fight, despite being stabbed many times by the co-pilot, who was claimed to be from Oman.
One of the Israeli passengers, Yaniv Hayoun, whom Netanyahu described as "a plumber", said that he entered the cockpit when the door opened and helped neutralize the Omani pilot.
It was claimed that Hayoun applied the method he saw in a documentary, pulled up the necessary lever and stabilized the plane that had lost altitude, then called other pilots to the cockpit and the plane was landed safely in Tabuk.
On the other hand, although pilots are subject to the same security procedures as passengers, the question of how the pilot brought a knife or other sharp object into the plane remained unanswered.
OMANI PILOTS ARE FORBIDDEN TO FLY TO ISRAEL
The agreement made for Flydubai to use Israeli airspace requires all pilots on flights to be citizens of countries that have normalized relations with Israel, and Oman is not included in this category.
While the claim that the co-pilot is Omani raises questions, The Jerusalem Post newspaper reported that Israeli officials said, "This situation is a clear violation of the agreement and Shabak should immediately investigate the issue." he said.
The newspaper noted that for this reason, Israeli Transport Minister Miri Regev appealed to Shabak and requested the immediate suspension of all Flydubai flights landing and taking off from Israel.
NETANYAHU'S CONTRADICTORY STATEMENTS DRAW ATTENTION
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who claimed in his statement last night that there was evidence that one of the pilots "intended to crash the plane", made contradictory statements in his interviews with the US press.
In his interview with CBS, Netanyahu claimed that the pilot, allegedly from Oman, used "a knife or an axe" to attack the other pilot.
In the same interview, he stated that the reason for the pilot's behavior was still unknown, adding, "I don't think this was a hijacking." Netanyahu also claimed that those who intervened in the pilot "managed to prevent a disaster similar to September 11."
TRUMP APPROACHED WITH SUSPICION
US President Donald Trump, who Netanyahu reportedly spoke to on the phone, made statements indicating that he was skeptical of the narrative in question.
Trump said that, according to information provided by Netanyahu, an Israeli plumber on the plane intervened after hearing screams coming from the cockpit, and the passenger pulled the pilot out of the seat and threw him into the back.
Stating that this passenger had never flown an airplane before and that he learned what to do from a television program, Trump said, without hiding his surprise, "He took the remote control, pulled it up and made the plane go straight before it crashed." he said.
Trump emphasized that he could not confirm the accuracy of the information he received from Netanyahu and said, "This is the story I heard. I do not know whether it is true or not." he said.
Details about how the incident occurred and its cause are expected to emerge as a result of the investigations.
