Attempted Hijack on Israel-Bound Flight: What to Know

A FlyDubai flight carrying primarily Israeli passengers from Dubai to Israel was diverted on Wednesday after a pilot allegedly stabbed a second pilot and tried to crash the aircraft.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the airplane, identified as flight FZ 1073, landed safely in Saudi Arabia’s northwestern area of Tabuk following the intervention of crew members and a passenger on the airplane. Israeli officials have described the situation as a “serious security incident” and a possible act of terrorism.

The FlyDubai airplane, a Boeing 737 Max 8, dropped about 16,000 feet as a violent altercation took place in the cockpit. The airplane was carrying 174 passengers, most of whom were Israelis, at the time of the incident on Wednesday, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Here are four things to know about Wednesday’s FlyDubai airplane incident.

Cockpit Altercation

A FlyDubai spokesperson confirmed that an “altercation” took place Wednesday on the flight deck of flight FZ 1073 after it departed from Dubai for Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport.

Data provided by Flightradar24, a flight tracking service, show that the flight issued an emergency squawk code, indicating an unlawful interference incident, before landing in Tabuk on Sept. 30.

The aircraft dropped from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet within a minute, roughly two and a half hours after it departed from Dubai, according to Flightradar24.

On-duty members of the crew “successfully secured” the plane, which was diverted before landing safely at Tabuk Airport, according to a FlyDubai spokesperson. The spokesperson added that all the passengers and crew were safe and accounted for.

Both the airplane’s captain and first officer were injured in the incident on Wednesday, according to a statement from Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk. A regional official also noted that the passengers received medical attention from local authorities.

FlyDubai cautioned people to avoid “premature speculation” as the motives behind the event remained under investigation.

Netanyahu Says Pilot Tried to Crash the Plane

In a statement on social media, Netanyahu described the event as a “serious security incident” that occurred as the flight was approaching Israel. He said one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot and “apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board.”

Netanyahu said he spoke with one of the Israeli passengers who helped stop the plane from crashing. The passenger told him that the plane “went into a spin and began to dive.”

However, the passenger and one of the crew members were able to break into the cockpit and “neutralized the stabbing pilot while he was trying to sabotage the plane’s systems” before other flight crew stabilized the plane, according to the prime minister.

“I salute these heroes, who displayed exceptional resourcefulness and courage. They saved many lives. They prevented a huge disaster,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu confirmed that the rogue pilot was arrested and interrogated by Saudi officials. In light of Wednesday’s incident, Netanyahu instructed Israel’s security services to prepare for other potential threats.

Netanyahu’s office said that approximately 160 of the passengers on the FlyDubai airplane were from Israel.

Possible Act of Terrorism

Israeli security officials told Epoch Magazine Israel on Wednesday that officials were treating the incident as an act of terrorism following preliminary investigations.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the incident was a “jihadist terrorist attack” that was only prevented by the passengers onboard.

Based on the preliminary investigation, Katz said the suspect’s intention was to crash the airplane with everyone onboard.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said that while the exact details were “still unclear” as of Wednesday morning, it could have been a “horrific incident.”

TSA Posture

During a press conference on Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was “always at high alert” and took incidents like this seriously.

“I know the question may come up, ‘Is TSA taking a different posture at this?’” he said. “We take every incident like this very [seriously], and we continue to look at the procedures that we have in place and continue to make sure the American people are safe. We have no credible threats to us right now that would coordinate with what took place over there.”

Mullin noted that the investigation into the incident remained ongoing and that there were “conflicting reports” regarding what happened on the airplane. He added that the details regarding what happened on the flight, the reported altercation in the cockpit, and the identity of the suspect would be revealed “in due time.”

Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters that the United States was coordinating with Israel in the aftermath of the airplane security incident.

Emel Akan, Tom Ozimek, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.