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One pilot stabbed another and then apparently tried to crash the plane carrying about 170 people on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. Passengers and crew staged a dramatic intervention to subdue the attacker, and the plane ultimately made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
As some passengers screamed, the FlyDubai flight traveling from the United Arab Emirates to Israel transmitted an emergency alert and abruptly descended thousands of meters (feet). But the incident led Israel to deploy fighter jets because it raised concerns about a possible hijacking of the plane.
Upon the arrival in Israel of another plane that transported passengers from the flight involved in the incident on Wednesday night, amid cheers at the airport, it was still unclear what motivated the attack.
“We are going to die,” recalled passenger Naama Bershadski about the terrifying experience. She said she closed her eyes and prayed for a good outcome.
Video images circulating on social media and reviewed by The Associated Press show two men on the floor of the plane, with bleeding wounds. Two people appear to be providing emergency medical care, and two others are guarding the cockpit.
“We are guarding the pilot,” says a person in Hebrew. In another video, passengers cry and scream in anguish as the plane shakes.
Those who intervened “saved many lives and prevented a great disaster,” Netanyahu said, adding that Saudi Arabia had arrested a pilot whose identity has not been revealed by authorities. Saudi Arabia has not offered statements.
The plane's captain and first officer were injured and taken to the hospital, according to a statement from the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk broadcast by the Saudi state television channel Alekhbariya.
The passengers were receiving medical attention from local authorities, according to a regional official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.
Netanyahu has warned in recent days about unspecified, increasingly growing security threats. The country is a week away from commemorating the anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel, which has triggered a series of wars, and weeks away from an election.
A spokesperson for Netanyahu's office said that about 160 people on the plane were from Israel.
Two pilots fight and passengers and crew intervene
An Israeli official said a fight broke out between two pilots, one of whom was armed with a knife. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the incident was still under investigation.
Approximately two and a half hours after taking off from Dubai, the plane abruptly descended from 10,000 meters to 5,100 meters (about 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet) in about a minute, before making an erratic circle near the Jordanian border and finally landing in Tabuk about an hour later, according to FlightRadar24.
When the plane began to nose-dive, a passenger and a crew member managed to break into the cockpit, Netanyahu said, citing the passenger he spoke with. Other crew members then took over flying the plane.
Among the passengers who intervened were members of Israeli security forces and air marshals, according to a person familiar with a Saudi Arabian and regional partners' investigation. The person was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
FlyDubai confirmed that “an altercation occurred on the flight deck” and that the plane was secured by the duty crew “who diverted and landed the plane safely”.
Earlier, an official confirmed that Israel mobilized fighter jets for fear of a hijacking. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the incident was still under investigation.
Amid the chaos, passengers react to hearing the fight
Yasmin Abukasis, whose daughter was on the flight, said her daughter told her in a phone call that she could hear someone screaming “help!”.
Abukasis added that her daughter stated that the plane began to lose control, which caused passengers to scream in fear. She added that two people were finally able to regain control of the plane, while other people tried to subdue an attacker on the floor of the plane.
Passengers on the plane told Israeli television channel Ch 12 by phone that they also heard screams from travelers toward the front of the plane, who heard the altercation between the pilots.
The airport in Tabuk reported that a FlyDubai flight issued a distress call at 8:44 a.m. local time, before landing safely at 9:45 a.m.
Former United Airlines pilot and aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo said he was surprised that the plane could land safely after most of the rudder was ripped from the tail during the extreme descent.
“It was a serious descent and strong aerodynamic forces on that rudder for that to happen. I am just amazed that the plane didn’t break apart,” Arroyo maintained.
[Publicidad]