Flydubai flight Dubai-Tel Aviv diverted to Saudi Arabia after cockpit brawl
Flight FZ 1073 made an emergency landing in Tabuk after a pilot allegedly stabbed his copilot. Israel invokes a suspected jihadist attack attempt.
Sudden loss of altitude and forced landing in Tabuk
Flydubai flight FZ 1073, carrying 174 people from Dubai to Tel-Aviv on Wednesday 30 September morning, was forced to make an emergency landing at Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk, in north-western Saudi Arabia. According to La Libre, the aircraft was flying over Saudi Arabia, approximately one hour before its scheduled arrival in Israel, when it suddenly lost altitude.
Data from the Flightradar website indicates that the plane descended from approximately 10,400 metres to less than 5,200 metres in one minute, at 08:21 Saudi time. Several air traffic tracking websites reported a descent to approximately 4,900 metres in less than two minutes. The distress signal was then activated, followed a few minutes later by a code signalling a possible hijacking.
The aircraft initially headed towards Jordan, whose airspace it crossed, before turning back towards Saudi Arabia. A spokesman for the Emirati low-cost airline confirmed in a statement that the flight "encountered an incident en route", without specifying the exact nature of events.
An altercation between the two pilots at the heart of the drama
Several Israeli media outlets attributed the diversion to a violent altercation between the captain and the copilot. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in a video address: "During the flight, as they were approaching our country, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently attempted to crash the plane with everyone on board."
A passenger interviewed by Israeli newspaper Haaretz described the moment the situation deteriorated. "An hour before landing, we felt the plane was no longer under control, that it was beginning to make jumps," she said. Miryam Shira Ohayon, also on board, indicated that the aircraft was "practically out of control" and that only intervention by passengers had prevented the crash. "It was really on the verge of crashing and it was only thanks to […] all those who subdued the copilot and neutralised him" that the passengers survived, she stated via her mother's telephone, who was waiting for her return at Ben-Gurion airport. She also mentioned the presence of "a lot of blood" and passengers who were "very stressed" and "thought they were going to die".
At the Jerusalem Post, an Israeli passenger reported that a pilot had stabbed his colleague and attempted to eject him from the cockpit. Other travellers reportedly rushed to the flight deck to restrain the attacker. This same witness claims to have urged two pilots who were on board as passengers to take control of the aircraft. Netanyahu praised these passengers as "heroes" who had managed to "save many lives" and "prevent a great catastrophe".
In a video filmed inside the aircraft and posted on social media by Israeli users, a man bleeding from a head wound calls for help in Hebrew: "We are undergoing an attack on board the aircraft. We have just neutralised the terrorists and we are preparing to land." He adds: "We are about to land in Tabuk, apparently in Saudi Arabia. An unknown area."
Nationalities of pilots and their respective roles still unclear
Saudi Arabia's airport confirmed that both the pilot and copilot were injured. Flydubai stated that the reasons for the altercation remained "unknown" at this stage, calling on "the various parties to refrain from any premature speculation".
Israeli press mentions that the pilot would be of Emirati nationality and the copilot of Omani nationality. Indian newspapers instead suggest that it was the captain, an Indian national named Smit Machchhar, who acted as the hero in the situation. The question of which of the two pilots attacked the other remains without a clear answer. The attacker was arrested and was being questioned by Saudi authorities in the middle of the day.
Terrorist lead evoked by Israeli authorities
Israeli channel Channel 12 reports that investigators are examining the lead of a pilot's suicide attempt, who allegedly sought to crash the aircraft before being prevented by his colleague. An Israeli official cited by Haaretz stated that the authorities were treating the incident as a terrorist act and were seriously considering the hypothesis of a deliberate crash attempt.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz denounced a "jihadist attack attempt". The National Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, echoed this view: "A terrorist attempted to crash a plane to kill the 180 Israelis on board," stated this far-right minister.
These claims could not be immediately verified. The Israeli military indicated it was carrying out "checks". The incident occurs in a context of heightened regional tensions, amid conflict between the United States and Iran, and a few weeks before Israeli legislative elections scheduled for next month. Israeli authorities had repeatedly signalled a high risk to the country in this geopolitical context. Benjamin Netanyahu ordered an inquiry, whose results had not yet been communicated by early evening.
Source: La Libre