On Wednesday, September 30, a bloody conflict erupted in the cockpit of a plane flying from Dubai to Israel, leading to an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. Israeli President Netanyahu stated that one pilot stabbed another pilot, apparently attempting to crash the plane.
In a video address regarding the incident, Netanyahu said, “As the aircraft approached our country during the flight, one pilot stabbed another pilot. It seems he was trying to crash the plane along with the passengers on board.”
Three Israeli officials informed Reuters that the co-pilot allegedly stabbed the captain, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. This incident is believed to be a thwarted “terror attack.”
They revealed that on Flydubai’s FZ1073 flight from the United Arab Emirates to Israel, the flight crew entered the cockpit and took control of the aircraft. The plane was flying over Jordanian airspace and then diverted to land in Saudi Arabia. An official mentioned that the attacker was an Omani national.
A spokesperson for Flydubai told CNN that after the conflict in the cockpit, a crew member rerouted the flight to land in Saudi Arabia on its way to Tel Aviv. The spokesperson added that the motive behind the incident is still under investigation.
According to the spokesperson, the on-duty Flydubai crew on board “successfully managed the situation,” and the plane safely landed at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia.
Media personality Daniel Cohen posted a video from inside the plane’s cockpit on the social media platform X. He mentioned that the footage showed Israeli passengers covered in the blood of the pilot who was stabbed by the co-pilot.
Flight tracking website Flightradar24 data indicated that the aircraft experienced a rapid descent, dropping nearly 14,000 feet (about 4,270 meters) in less than 30 seconds before sending out the first emergency signal. The plane also transmitted signals suggesting a hijacking or other “unlawful interference” might have occurred.
Regarding whether this was a hijacking incident, there are conflicting views from Israeli sources.
Israeli sources told CNN they suspect the co-pilot attempted to hijack the plane after stabbing the captain. It remains unclear whether the intention was to crash the plane or to take passengers hostage.
Around the time the plane landed in Saudi Arabia, Doron Spielman, spokesperson for the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, informed Reuters that, to their knowledge, the incident was not a hijacking and described it as a “different nature of event.”
However, when asked if Israel considers this incident a “terror event,” Spielman did not immediately respond to further requests for comment.
Several Israeli officials told reporters that Israel’s current assessment suggests it was a thwarted “terror attack” unrelated to any mental health issues of the pilots.