Flydubai flight lands in Saudi Arabia after cockpit altercation

A Flydubai flight carrying mostly Israeli passengers made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after a violent altercation in the cockpit. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said one pilot stabbed the other and tried to crash the plane, but the airline said the motive remains unknown and subject to a formal investigation.

Flight FZ1073 was traveling from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to Tel Aviv when it diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Flydubai said the crew secured the aircraft and that all passengers were safe and accounted for. There were no reports of passenger injuries.

Netanyahu said a passenger told him the plane “went into a spin and began to plunge” before the passenger and a crew member broke into the cockpit and subdued the pilot accused of the stabbing. He praised those who intervened: “They saved many lives and prevented a major disaster.”

Flydubai described what happened as an “altercation” on the flight deck and said on-duty crew traveling aboard secured the plane. The company said it had sent aircraft to bring passengers from Saudi Arabia to Tel Aviv.

Both the captain and first officer were taken to a hospital with injuries, according to Saudi airport officials. A statement from Cluster2, the company that manages Saudi airports, said the relevant authorities were investigating.

Netanyahu said Saudi authorities had arrested the suspected attacker and were questioning him. Saudi Arabia has not confirmed an arrest. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz called the incident “an attempted jihadist terrorist attack” and said preliminary information indicated the attacker intended to kill everyone aboard. No official confirmation of a hijacking attempt has been reported, and the cause of the incident remains unconfirmed.

Al Jazeera reported that flight-tracking data showed the aircraft dropping about 14,000 feet, or 4,300 meters, in less than 30 seconds. According to Al Jazeera, flight tracker Flightradar24 said the plane first issued a general emergency signal and later changed it to a signal indicating “unlawful interference.” Al Jazeera also reported, citing Reuters, that Israel deployed warplanes while the aircraft was in Jordanian airspace.

Passenger Dalia Shpigel told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that people near the front of the plane entered the cockpit as the aircraft descended. “The guys saw that the plane had begun to dive and broke into the cockpit,” she said, according to Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera reported that an Israeli official speaking anonymously to Reuters identified the accused pilot as an Omani national. Neither Flydubai nor Saudi authorities have publicly established a motive.

According to Al Jazeera, Reuters reported that Netanyahu ordered tighter security for Israeli and non-Israeli airlines after the incident. Opposition leader Yair Lapid disputed attempts to connect the episode to an earlier warning about a possible attack on Israel, saying that warning had been in place for more than two years and “has nothing to do with planes or anything resembling what happened this morning.”