Israel denounced this Wednesday an “attempted jihadist attack” on a plane connecting Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. According to Defense Minister Israel Katz, one of the pilots of the FlyDubai flight tried to take control “with a single objective: to crash it,” but was prevented by “the heroism of several Israeli passengers who burst into the cockpit, subdued the terrorist and — with their own hands — returned control of the aircraft to another crew member.” The aircraft, carrying 174 passengers (166 of them Israeli nationals), suddenly descended almost 6,000 meters in a few minutes. It is the first attempt of its kind in decades.
The minister's statement puts an end to hours of official silence from the three countries involved: Israel (where the plane was headed), the United Arab Emirates (where it departed and owner of the airline that operated it) and Saudi Arabia, where it ended up landing. But, since the plane landed in Tabuk and the passengers bought virtual telephone SIM cards and recovered coverage, Israel was already treating as the main hypothesis that one of the pilots had a knife and that he tried to take control of the device, to crash it, either to perpetrate an attack or to commit suicide. The videos (including one of the handcuffed pilot and bloodied crew and passengers) and the statements of the passengers have reinforced it as the day progressed.
The Head of Government, Benjamin Netanyahu, has assured that all the passengers are out of danger and that the pilot who carried out the stabbing (who can be seen tied up in one of the videos) is being questioned by the Saudi authorities. “I have given instructions to the security services to prepare for possible additional threats,” he said in a video statement in which he described the incident as “extremely serious.”
Meanwhile, the airline has asked the parties to “refrain from premature speculation while the authorities gather the facts” because “the underlying reasons and motives are still unknown,” which are the subject of a formal investigation.
The plane first issued a “general emergency” alert (code 7700) and then changed it to a 7500, a very rare signal of “unlawful interference” that includes hijacking cases. He then turned around and landed at Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Airport in Tabuk, northwest Saudi Arabia.
The aircraft momentarily disappeared from flight tracking websites while the Israeli Air Force sent fighter-bombers in the direction of the aircraft and held an emergency meeting with Katz.
After landing in Saudi Arabia, local media and social networks were filled with videos apparently recorded by the passengers. In one, filmed inside the device during the flight, a passenger says in Hebrew to the cell phone camera with a trickle of blood on his forehead: "We have reduced the terrorists. We are going towards the landing. Anyone who will listen to me: we need help. We are going towards Tabuk, apparently in the Saudi area, an area that we do not know about. The entire plane is safe and sound, except for the pilot. We need help," he says.
A second video shows four Israeli passengers in the cockpit, along with a pilot with his hands tied and another with a bloody face and on artificial respiration. One of them says that one of the pilots tried to stab the other. A passenger can also be seen in a photograph sitting in his seat with bloody shirt and pants.
One of the passengers, identified as Adam, told national television Channel 13 that the plane's electrical system suddenly turned off, before shouts of: “Stabs, stabbings, blood, blood!” were heard. Someone asked the passengers to intervene and several Israeli adults did so. “Three or four people saved 180,” he summarized.
Another passenger, Dalia Shpigel, felt that “something very strange” was happening when she began to hear “terrifying screams throughout the plane.” “It turned out that a mother who was waiting for her daughter near the bathroom had seen what was happening in the cabin and started screaming in terror,” she said. Between three and five men burst into the cockpit, subdued the terrorist and began treating the wounded pilot. "We didn't know where we were going to land until the plane touched down," he added.
Suspend a popular route
Transport Minister Miri Regev has demanded the suspension of all Flydubai flights to Israel and has asked the Civil Aviation Authority to investigate whether the United Arab Emirates violated the bilateral aviation agreement, which excludes pilots from States that lack diplomatic relations with Israel. The reason is the unconfirmed information that the pilot was one of these countries: Oman. The company initially admitted that an “incident” occurred on the aircraft, but that it landed safely and all passengers are safe.
All Israeli passengers have already boarded a second plane, sent by Flydubai to the Saudi airport to pick them up, in an operation previously approved by the intelligence services. Israel and Saudi Arabia lack direct diplomatic relations, but they collaborate in some areas.
The incident route is extremely popular, with more than 20 flights daily, despite the last three years of violence in the Middle East. Tens of thousands of Israelis have flown to the United Arab Emirates since that country recognized the State of Israel in 2020, along with Morocco and Bahrain. It was within the framework of the Abraham Accords, promoted by the president of the United States, Donald Trump, in his first term.
The former Israeli ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Amir Hayek, has highlighted this on the social network "The United Arab Emirates and the airline deserve that we put speculation aside and allow them to fully investigate what really happened. I trust them," he added.
The Emirati authorities have reacted late into the night, when about 12 hours had passed since the incident, with a note in which they assure that "the teams responsible for the investigation (...) continue to investigate to determine the causes and circumstances, including the review of operational and security aspects."
