One pilot stabbed another in the cockpit of a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv in what may have been an attempt to crash the plane, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday. A passenger intervened to help restrain the attacker, he added.
The flight, carrying more than 100 Israeli passengers, was diverted while flying over Jordanian airspace and made an emergency landing at Tabuk Airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia, an Israeli official told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
“During the flight, as they were approaching Israel, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot and apparently attempted to crash the plane with its passengers on board,” Netanyahu said in an official video statement.
He said he spoke with one of the passengers, who told him that he had managed to enter the cockpit with a member of the cabin crew. Together, they were able to restrain the pilot who had allegedly carried out the stabbing and was attempting to interfere with the aircraft’s systems, Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu added that another crew member entered the cockpit and managed to land the plane. “I salute these heroes, who saved many lives and prevented a major disaster.”
He called the incident a “serious security event” and said that nearly all of the passengers on board were Israelis.
Defense Minister Israel Katz described the incident as a “jihadist terror attack.”
“According to the initial information in our possession, the terrorist had one intention: to crash the plane with all its passengers on board,” Katz said. He credited the passengers with taking control of the attacker and allowing another flight crew member to regain control of the aircraft.
Saudi authorities said the two pilots were taken to a hospital after sustaining injuries, according to international media reports. Netanyahu said that the pilot accused of carrying out the stabbing was “currently being questioned by the Saudi authorities.”
Data from Flightradar24 showed the aircraft descending roughly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds during the incident. Videos recorded during the flight appeared to show chaos in the cabin, with passengers screaming and crying.
The entire incident lasted about an hour and a half, according to accounts from passengers posted on social media and reports by Israeli media.
“We are on the flight from Dubai. We took control of the flight. There was an attacker with a knife who stabbed one of the pilots,” passenger Itzhak Liber said in a Facebook video. “A few of us jumped in and pulled him out of the cockpit. Everything is OK now. The terrorist is neutralized. There is a pilot who is seriously injured.”
“It was tough. Everything is covered in blood,” Liber added.
Another passenger, with blood on his face, appeared in a video posted to social media and said the passengers were in the middle of a hijacking and had restrained the attacker as the plane prepared to land. In another video, several passengers said they were protecting the pilot.
The flight landed at Ben Gurion Airport on Wednesday evening. Footage obtained by (JEWISH REVIEW) showed passengers cheering and singing “Am Yisrael Chai” as they arrived in Israel.
The first official U.S. reaction came from U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who wrote on X that “details still unclear,” but that Israeli passengers on board had helped subdue the co-pilot, who “apparently tried to take over the plane.” Huckabee added that the incident “could have been a horrific” one, but that everyone was safe.
Flydubai has acknowledged that there was an “incident” that led to the diversion of the flight. It stressed that the plane landed safely and that all passengers were safe.
UAE officials had not commented on the incident as of publication. Earlier this week, Netanyahu met with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi.
Israel and Saudi Arabia do not have formal diplomatic relations, but the two countries maintain ties.
This story has been updated to include comments from Prime Minister Netanyahu and other details throughout.
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