Passengers and crew aboard a FlyDubai flight overpowered the co-pilot after he allegedly stabbed the captain mid-air, forcing a safe emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. Dramatic video shows passengers cheering and clapping as the plane, FZ1073, landed at Tabuk, a civilian and military base in the north-east of the Kingdom.
The incident unfolded around 90 minutes after take-off from Dubai as the jet entered Jordanian airspace. A trained pilot who was onboard as a passenger landed the aircraft safely. A senior Israeli official said: "A major disaster was narrowly avoided."
Passengers Describe Chaos and Bloodshed
Passengers reported seeing the pilot suffer serious stab wounds before the alleged attacker was dragged off him. Photos emerged of blood-stained passengers as those onboard sought to stop the mid-air mayhem. The flight appeared to nosedive during the incident, with flight-tracking data showing it plummeted by 17,000ft in minutes.
An unnamed passenger told local media that one pilot was stabbed by another, but passengers near the front of the plane helped force the alleged attacker from the cockpit. The witness said two other pilots were on board, at the back of the plane. One passenger told the Jerusalem Post: "I shouted at them to run and take control of the plane." Another said: "We understood the pilots lost control. There are people here with shirts covered in blood. Now we are fine and want to return home."
Emergency Response and Terror Assessment
Israeli airspace was shut down and fighter jets were scrambled after the flight issued a squawk code of 7500, which signals unlawful interference. It later reverted to 7700, indicating a general emergency. The Israeli government later said the incident was being treated as a fully-fledged "terrorist attack." Security chiefs from the IDF, Shin Bet, and Mossad were said to be increasingly assessing the mid-air emergency as an attempted terror attack, local media report.
Security experts believe Iran is the only regional actor with the operational capability to plan and execute such an operation, Israel's Channel 14 news reported. The incident comes after Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu warned in recent days of unspecified, escalated security threats. Israel has not experienced a hijacking in decades but maintains some of the strictest airport security in the world. Media and families gathered at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv as the plane made its emergency landing.
