A flydubai co-pilot stabbed the captain and allegedly tried to crash Flight 1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv before passengers and crew subdued him. The jet made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
A flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was diverted to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after the co-pilot stabbed the captain and appeared to attempt to bring the aircraft down, according to Israeli officials, who described the mid-air struggle as an act of terrorism. Passengers and crew aboard Flight 1073 intervened and the plane landed safely in Tabuk, in northwestern Saudi Arabia.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the assailant's intention was to "crash the plane, killing everyone on board." He identified the wounded captain as Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, who was stabbed but fought back.
Israel's emergency services and airline officials said 174 people were aboard the jet. The flight departed Dubai at 7:05 a.m. local time, according to Flightradar24. Tracking data showed a rapid descent from roughly 34,000 feet to about 16,000 feet in a matter of minutes. About ten minutes into that descent, the aircraft's transponder code changed to signal a general emergency, and minutes later changed again to indicate unlawful interference, the code used for a hijacking. The jet then continued lower before landing in Tabuk roughly an hour later.
What passengers described
Accounts from those on board describe a sudden, violent event inside the cockpit and chaos in the cabin.
"We just heard screams, and they opened the cockpit and saw amounts of blood from someone who had simply tried to murder the pilot and stabbed him with a pocketknife. Then the plane lost control," a passenger identified as Miriam told Israeli media.
Another passenger, Mika Bauman, recounted the drop: "It was the full like cabin, like cabins opening and everything, like chaos screaming and just the crazy drop."
Netanyahu said the captain, despite being stabbed, "fought back, resisted [and] opened the cockpit door," and that a passenger broke into the cockpit with a crew member to subdue the attacker while he was "attempting to sabotage the aircraft's systems." A second crew member then took control and stabilized the aircraft, he said.
The suspect and the investigation
Israeli officials identified the suspect as the co-pilot, whom they said is from Oman and has been designated a terrorist. Saudi authorities are holding and questioning him. The captain was treated at a hospital in Saudi Arabia and was reported to be in stable condition.
Israeli officials have ruled out a conventional hijacking of the kind seen in earlier decades, framing the episode instead as a deliberate attempt to crash the aircraft. The investigation is continuing, and officials have cautioned that the picture may evolve as evidence is examined.
Flydubai confirmed only that the flight "experienced an incident while en route" and landed in Tabuk. The airline has not publicly addressed the allegation. Flight crews are reportedly undergoing additional background checks.
Aftermath
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz praised the passengers who intervened and said the investigation is ongoing. "According to our preliminary information, the terrorist had a single objective: to crash the plane, killing everyone on board," Katz said.
Israel sought to send aircraft to repatriate the passengers from Saudi Arabia, but Riyadh declined to permit an Israeli military rescue flight, according to Israeli officials cited by ABC News. It was not immediately clear how or when the stranded passengers would return.
In Washington, U.S. officials said they were coordinating with counterparts overseas and stressed there were no credible threats. The incident renewed attention on aviation security and on the screening of airline personnel, questions that the multinational investigation is likely to press further in the coming days.