Dubai, Sep 30: An Indian national was the captain of a Flydubai flight who fought with his co-pilot during a violent cockpit confrontation that forced the aircraft to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, Israeli news website Ynet reported on Wednesday.
Ynet, citing Israeli officials, reported that the co-pilot was an Omani national and was suspected of trying to crash the aircraft. The captain fought with him to prevent the aircraft from crashing, with Israeli passengers later helping subdue the co-pilot, the report said.
In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said one of the pilots stabbed the other and apparently attempted to crash the aircraft with passengers on board.
“During the flight, as they were approaching Israel, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot and, apparently, tried to crash the plane with its passengers on board,” Netanyahu said.
He said an Israeli passenger told him that the aircraft went into a spin and began descending, after which the passenger and a crew member managed to enter the cockpit and overpower the pilot who had carried out the stabbing.
According to Netanyahu, another crew member then entered the cockpit and helped stabilise the aircraft. “I salute these heroes who demonstrated extraordinary resourcefulness and courage. They saved many lives and prevented a major disaster,” he said.
The aircraft landed safely at Tabuk airport and all passengers were out of danger, Netanyahu said. He also said the pilot who carried out the stabbing had been arrested and was being questioned by Saudi authorities.
In an updated statement, Flydubai said an altercation had occurred in the flight deck of flight FZ1073, which was operating from Dubai to Tel Aviv, and that the aircraft was secured by on-duty Flydubai crew travelling on the flight before it was diverted and landed safely at Tabuk airport.
The airline said all passengers and crew were safe and accounted for and that it had deployed two replacement aircraft to Tabuk to relieve them.
“At this early stage, the underlying reasons and motives behind this event are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation,” a Flydubai spokesperson said, urging all parties to refrain from “premature speculation” while authorities gather the facts.
The airline has not released the identity or nationality of the pilots.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz described the incident as “a jihadist terrorist attack attempt” and claimed that it was thwarted by Israeli passengers who entered the cockpit, overpowered the alleged attacker and helped restore control of the aircraft to another flight crew present on board.
“According to the initial information in our possession, the terrorist had one intention: to crash the plane with all its passengers,” Katz said in a statement cited by Israeli media.
Flydubai flight FZ1073 had transmitted emergency signals and made a sharp descent before diverting to Tabuk. Both pilots were injured and hospitalised, according to Tabuk airport authorities.
The airline said it was cooperating with the relevant authorities and that the incident had no impact on other scheduled operations across its network.
Israeli authorities initially feared a possible hijacking and scrambled fighter jets. The incident remains under investigation.
Video clips show passengers aboard the aircraft moving towards the front of the plane, while others can be heard shouting and asking what was happening.
The seat layout and design are consistent with a Flydubai Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, according to BBC Verify.
Passenger accounts of the incident also emerged in Israeli media.
Zvika Manes, a passenger who said he helped subdue the alleged attacker, told Israeli financial newspaper Calcalist that his wife heard shouting and screams near the cockpit before he and others intervened. “I’m covered in blood. It was insane,” he said, according to Ynet.
Another passenger, Dalia Shpigel, told Israeli newspaper Haaretz that there were “terrible screams throughout the plane” before “three to five guys burst into the cockpit” and subdued the attacker.
Noa Shpigel, a journalist with the Haaretz newspaper, told the BBC that her 74-year-old mother was travelling on the Flydubai flight from Kathmandu via Dubai to Israel.
After learning about the incident, Shpigel spoke to her mother, who said passengers realised something was wrong when the aircraft began “to jump in the air” and then “dive down”.
She said they quickly understood that something was very wrong in the cockpit. Several young Israeli men sitting at the front of the aircraft then entered the cockpit and took control, Shpigel told the BBC.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said a warning about increased terrorist activity abroad, which he was briefed about before the Flydubai incident, had nothing to do with the events aboard the aircraft
“The warning about activity abroad is specific, has been in place for more than two years, and has nothing to do with planes or anything resembling what happened this morning,” Lapid said in a post on X.
He said nothing resembling the incident was discussed during a security briefing with Netanyahu on Tuesday. “Nothing that even resembles this morning’s plane incident appeared in last night’s security update with the Prime Minister. Not similar, not reminiscent, not even hinted at,” Lapid said.
Flydubai flight FZ1073 was carrying 174 passengers, including 27 children, according to Ynet.
Flight-tracking data analysed by BBC Verify showed the aircraft cruising at about 34,000 feet before plunging around 17,000 feet, climbing 5,000 feet and then descending another 7,000 feet to settle at about 15,000 feet, all within less than five minutes. (PTI)
