A six-year-old girl inadvertently played a pivotal role in uncovering an alleged bid to hijack a FlyDubai passenger aircraft after accompanying her mother to the toilet just moments before violence broke out in the cockpit.
Nina Manes was on board with her parents, Tali and Tzvika, on a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv when the co-pilot allegedly stabbed the captain in a bid to seize control of the plane. As Nina and her mother made their way through the cabin, Mrs Manes heard what she would later describe as suspicious sounds emanating from the cockpit and hurried forward to investigate.
Mother's account of the attack
"There was blood all over the cockpit and very, very sharp fighting moves," she told Israeli broadcaster Channel 12. "I screamed, 'He is stabbing the pilot, he is stabbing the pilot, come help!' People looked at me and didn't understand."
Nina's father, Tzvika, then reportedly sprinted to retrieve his daughter from the toilet, recounting: "The shrieks of my daughters when the plane nosedived [are still with me]. They said, 'Dad we don't want to die.' [Their cries] were the triggers that caused me to run inside the cockpit."
Flight details and emergency landing
The terrifying ordeal unfolded approximately two and a half hours into the flight, with the aircraft plunging from 33,000ft to 17,000ft in the space of roughly a minute. Following the nosedive, the Boeing 737 Max 8 performed an erratic loop near the Jordanian border before touching down in Tabuk, according to Flightradar24.
Shota Musayev, a dentist who had treated the captain, filmed footage from inside the aircraft showing the co-pilot on his knees, with his hands bound behind his back.
Captain's condition and investigation
"We asked if there was a doctor on the plane, there was a dentist," Tzvika continued. "He saved the life of the Indian captain, gave him oxygen, stopped his bleeding with blankets and all kinds of equipment that was in the area."
The Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia confirmed that Captain Smit Machchhar, widely hailed as one of the heroes of the flight, was in a stable condition overnight. The suspect, an Omani national, had been taken into custody, according to a regional authority, who added that Saudi officials were cooperating with several countries, including Israel, in an effort to establish a motive. The UAE, US and Oman are also understood to be assisting with the investigation.
"All possible scenarios, from terrorism to mental disorders, are being looked into. Nothing is ruled out for now," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Israeli intelligence and security officials had travelled to Saudi Arabia to assist in the investigation into the co-pilot, according to a separate regional source. Israel has requested that the co-pilot be transferred to Israel for questioning, though it remains unclear whether that request will be approved, the official added.
Israel and Saudi Arabia currently lack formal diplomatic relations, largely owing to the former's occupation of Palestine, although both countries have previously worked together on security and intelligence issues through unofficial channels.
An inquiry led by Abu Dhabi has commenced to establish "whether it was linked to any terrorist purpose", according to official confirmation, with authorities holding jurisdiction given the aircraft is registered there and UAE law governs offences committed on board. Asaf Rajuan, one of those who stepped in to intervene, said in a statement released by Israel's presidency: "We felt helpless, suspended in mid-air, and I didn't know who to turn to. But it was all instinct to survive."
