Copilot stabbed captain on Israel-bound flydubai flight, passengers subdued him

A flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv landed safely in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after a cockpit fight injured both pilots and sent it into a steep descent. The plane had sent a hijacking alert, and Israel scrambled fighter jets before it landed. Flight FZ1073, a Boeing 737 MAX carrying about 180 people, landed at Tabuk's Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport at 9.45 am local time. The airport said the plane touched down about an hour after it sent a distress call.

Israeli officials said one of the pilots stabbed the other and tried to take control of the aircraft. Israeli airspace was briefly closed before the plane landed, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a security meeting with defence officials. "The incident is under control, and all measures are currently being deployed in order to return the Israeli passengers safely to Israel," the Prime Minister's Office said.

Netanyahu later confirmed that a stabbing took place on board. "All passengers are out of danger," he said. "The pilot who stabbed them has been arrested and is currently being questioned by the Saudi authorities." Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir described the person under investigation as a "terrorist" and said he had planned to crash the aircraft and kill the Israelis on board.

Flight data showed the aircraft plunged from about 34,000 feet to roughly 17,000 feet in about a minute, then climbed briefly and dropped again. It first transmitted the international code 7700, which signals a general emergency. It then switched briefly to 7500, which indicates unlawful interference, and later reverted to the original code. NDTV, citing CNN, reported a fall of 17,400 feet in two minutes, from 34,000 feet to about 16,600 feet.

Both pilots were injured and taken to hospital, the company operating Tabuk airport said in a statement carried by Saudi state television. Flydubai confirmed that the aircraft experienced an in-flight incident and landed safely, and said the reasons and motives behind the event remain unknown and are subject to a formal investigation. The airline has not released the identity or nationality of the pilots.

PTI reported, citing the Israeli news website Ynet, that the captain was an Indian national and the co-pilot an Omani national suspected of trying to crash the aircraft. Israeli officials told NDTV that the pilot was from the UAE and the co-pilot from Oman, and that the co-pilot stabbed the captain. The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli sources believe the suspected hijacker is Omani, and that the captain's nationality was not immediately confirmed.

Transportation Minister Miri Regev asked the Shin Bet to halt flydubai flights entering and leaving Israel, citing reports that the co-pilot was of Omani origin. Flydubai's agreement to operate in Israel requires pilots to hold passports from countries that have diplomatic relations with Israel. Oman does not have diplomatic relations with Israel. "This is a clear breach of the agreement," a Transportation Ministry source told The Jerusalem Post.

Passengers described panic in the cabin as the plane dived. Passenger Miryam Shira Ohayon told reporters by speakerphone that the aircraft was "pretty much out of control" when one pilot attacked the other over Jordan. She said the co-pilot "tried to murder the pilot and basically carry out a suicide attack on the plane." Her mother held up the phone at Ben Gurion Airport.

An Israeli passenger told The Jerusalem Post that Israelis seated near the front of the plane rushed to the cockpit and fought the attacker while the aircraft was diving. Two off-duty pilots travelling as passengers in civilian clothes then took control and landed the plane, according to Channel 12 reports carried by The Times of India and NDTV. A senior Israeli official told Channel 12 that without those pilots the incident could have ended in another September 11 type attack or an Entebbe style hostage crisis.

Israeli media reports said an Israeli dentist on board treated the stabbed pilot. A video from the cabin showed a passenger with a blood stained shirt saying the attacker had been overpowered. "He attacked us on this plane. He tried to murder the pilot. We overpowered him," the man said in Hebrew.

Mossad, Shin Bet, the Israel Defense Forces and the Transport Ministry have opened a joint investigation, The Jerusalem Post reported. The probe is looking at whether there were indications of an attack before the flight, and at how a pilot of Omani origin was permitted to fly the aircraft. The Israeli Air Force said it maintains continuous preparation for unusual incidents involving civilian aircraft flying to Israel.

A replacement flydubai aircraft reached Tabuk in the afternoon, but most passengers refused to board it, eyewitnesses told The Jerusalem Post. They cited concerns that neither the aircraft nor the pilot were Israeli, and the eyewitness described children crying. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt-Gen Eyal Zamir were considering sending Israeli military or civilian aircraft to bring the passengers home, the Post reported. Zamir cancelled a planned trip to the United States.

The United Arab Emirates normalised ties with Israel in 2020 and has become a popular destination for Israeli tourists. Flydubai is the low-cost sister carrier of Emirates. Saudi Arabia does not have formal diplomatic ties with Israel, but it ended its ban on Israeli flights overflying its territory in 2022. Since then it has coordinated emergency landings for Israeli passengers, including one in 2023 after an electrical malfunction, the Associated Press reported. Israel is days away from the anniversary of the October 7, 2023 attack and weeks away from an election.

(With inputs from PTI)