The stabbing of a pilot on a FlyDubai flight to Tel Aviv is being investigated as a possible terrorist attack

Israeli security agencies do not rule out that what happened this morning during the FlyDubai flight from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Tel Aviv is a terrorist attack carried out by the co-pilot who stabbed the pilot with the intention of crashing the plane. A second Flydubai flight between Dubai and Tel Aviv, FZ1081, has been diverted and is now returning to Dubai, according to Flightradar24

After issuing an emergency alert, the plane did not land at Ben Gurion Airport as planned but was diverted to Saudi Arabia. The investigation, in which the Mossad intervenes, investigates the motivation for the attack that triggered the fight between the pilots before the attacker was subdued.

Speaking to Channel 12 from the plane in Saudi Arabia, Israeli passenger Meital revealed that "a crew member tried to take control and crash the plane. Someone shouted stabbing and my husband understood right away, went to the cabin and together with other Israeli passengers neutralized the terrorist."

"The pilot is seriously injured," says Isaac while Israeli media broadcast images of passengers with blood on their clothes after having helped stop the attacker. One of them filmed the moments in which they were with the attacked and seriously injured pilot.

From the plane and still shocked by what she experienced at the heights, Noa is clear: "It was a terrorist attack."

"An enormous tragedy has been avoided. We have been one step away from an event like 9/11 or July 1976," says an Israeli source, alluding to the terrorist attacks in New York in 2001 and the hijacking of the Air France plane from Tel Aviv to Paris by a commando made up of Palestinians and Germans. The main suspicion - not yet confirmed - is that the Omani co-pilot tried to take control of the plane and crash it with its almost 180 passengers on board, mostly Israelis.

Flight FZ1073 left Dubai at 7:05 a.m. and was scheduled to land in Israel at 9:30 a.m. but transmitted a double emergency signal apparently while in Jordanian airspace. As established by the protocols in these cases, the Israeli Air Force sent several fighter jets to meet the suspected plane. Shortly after and after losing contact with the pilot, the landing in Saudi Arabia was confirmed.

FlyDubai confirmed that its plane, a Boeing 737, "suffered an incident" and that it landed at Saudi Tabuk airport with all passengers safe.