What began as a routine flydubai journey to Tel Aviv spiralled into a midair emergency after, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, a pilot allegedly tried to bring the aircraft down — only to be stopped by passengers and crew he hailed as “heroes”.
“During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board,” Netanyahu said in a video message, calling the passengers “heroes” who “prevented a major disaster”.
Mr Netanyahu said Saudi Arabia arrested the co-pilot of a Tel Aviv-bound flydubai plane who allegedly stabbed the other pilot and tried to crash the aircraft.
“The stabbing pilot has been arrested and is currently being interrogated by the Saudi authorities,” Mr Netanyahu said in a video message, as he ordered preparations against further possible threats.
The two Israeli officials said the co-pilot was believed to have stabbed the captain before cabin crew entered the cockpit and took control of the plane.
An Israeli official had earlier told Reuters the plane transmitted the emergency signals after the pilots got into a physical altercation with each other.
Around the time the plane landed in Saudi Arabia, Doron Spielman, a spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister’s office, told Reuters the incident was not believed to have been a hijacking, describing it as a “different incident”.
He did not immediately respond to a further request for comment on whether Israel was treating it as terror incident.
The two officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to brief reporters, said Israel’s current assessment is that the incident was an attempted “terror attack” and not related to any kind of mental health issue with either of the pilots.
A passenger, however, has said that one of the pilots attacked his co-pilot and tried to crash the plane to kill everyone.
Passenger Miryam Shira Ohayon said the plane was “pretty much out of control” when the stabbing took place over Jordan on the flight’s path from Dubai to Tel Aviv.
“The co-pilot tried to murder the pilot and basically carry out a suicide attack on the plane,” she told reporters by speakerphone held up by her mother who was waiting at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv.
“It was really on the way to crashing, and it was simply the resourcefulness of many people who took control of the co-pilot and neutralised him,” she said.
“There was also a doctor who gave first aid, and people who treated both of them. Other than the pilot, there were no injuries, but the bigger fear was really a crash, which is exactly what he was trying to do.”
Her mother, Yasmin Abukasis, said her daughter was on the flight to attend a service for her brother killed in the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack.
The daughter “thought they were going to die”, Ms Abukasis told AFP, adding that one woman “went to the (cockpit) and saw a lot of blood”.
She said that two other pilots were on the plane and took charge, diverting it to Saudi Arabia.
He did not immediately respond to a further request for comment on whether Israel was treating it as terror incident.
The two officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to brief reporters, said Israel’s current assessment is that the incident was an attempted “terror attack” and not related to any kind of mental health issue with either of the pilots.
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Flight plummeted before steadying again, tracking data shows
Video circulating in Israeli media and described as showing an Israeli passenger on the flydubai flight captured a chaotic scene, with the passenger saying one pilot was seriously wounded and the other sustained lighter injuries after the stabbing.
Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk airport, where the plane eventually landed safely, said that both pilots had been hospitalised after sustaining injuries. Neither the airport or the purported Israeli passenger identified the attacker.
Flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv diverted to Saudi Arabia as it flew over Jordanian airspace, transmitting a general emergency signal and then another emergency signal that indicated possible unlawful interference, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24.
The Boeing 737 plane, which Israeli media said had around 150 Israeli passengers on board, then again transmitted the initial general emergency signal before later landing at Tabuk airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia, the website said.
Flightradar24 said the aircraft’s tracking data suggested it abruptly dropped by nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds before the first emergency signal was sent.
It was not immediately clear who transmitted the emergency signals.
Conflicting reports appear in media, Israel holds security consultations
As details emerged, Israeli outlets offered competing versions of what happened, including reports claiming a pilot tried to crash the passenger jet in what was described as an attempted suicide.
Some Israeli media outlets identified the pilots as Omani and Emirati nationals, while others said they were Russian and Ukrainian.
The episode prompted security consultations in Israel, which does not have official diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia — the country where the aircraft was forced to land.
In a statement, the Israeli prime minister’s office said the situation was “under control” and that all measures were being taken to bring the Israeli passengers back to Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who earlier held security consultations on the incident, has cleared his schedule for the rest of the day to manage the crisis, an Israeli official said.
Media and passengers gather at Ben Guiron Airport in Tel Aviv after the flight was diverted to Saudi Arabia
Mr Netanyahu on Sunday met with UAE President Sheikh Mohamedbin Zayed Al Nahyan during a rare visit to the Gulf country.
Israel and the UAE have forged close security, military and economic ties since establishing diplomatic ties in 2020.
Earlier this year, Israel provided the UAE with Iron Dome air-defence systems and Israeli personnel to operate them, helping defend against Iranian attacks launched in retaliation for Israeli and US strikes on Iran.
The UAE is yet to comment on the incident, while the Dubai-owned airline has only said that the flight experienced an “incident” and diverted to Tabuk, where it landed safely, and that all passengers were safe and accounted for.
