A Flydubai passenger aircraft travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after the co-pilot allegedly stabbed the captain repeatedly in the cockpit and tried to seize control of the aircraft. Israeli officials said a major disaster was narrowly avoided and that the incident is being treated as a suspected terrorist attack.
Flydubai Flight FZ1073, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 carrying between 160 and 180 passengers, most of them Israeli, departed Dubai early on Wednesday morning bound for Ben Gurion Airport. Roughly two hours into the journey, as the aircraft approached Jordanian airspace, a violent struggle erupted in the cockpit. According to passenger accounts and Israeli security sources, the co-pilot, reported to be an Omani national, produced a knife and stabbed the captain, an Emirati, multiple times in an apparent attempt to take over the controls and crash the plane.
The captain resisted and transmitted distress signals. The aircraft issued the international emergency code 7700, briefly switched to the 7500 hijacking code, then reverted to a general emergency signal. Flight tracking data showed the Boeing suddenly losing thousands of feet of altitude in a matter of seconds, plunging from around 34,000 feet as the struggle continued. Passengers described screams from the front of the cabin, the cockpit door being forced open, and a scene of blood.
Flight attendants tried to reach the cockpit. Israeli passengers seated near the front then forced their way in, overpowered the co-pilot and dragged him out. Several passengers later described shirts stained with the wounded captain’s blood. One passenger told Israeli media that a dentist travelling on the flight administered first aid that helped keep the captain alive.
Two additional pilots travelling as passengers in civilian clothes, understood to be Israelis returning home, then entered the cockpit. With the original captain incapacitated by his wounds, they took control of the aircraft and flew it to Tabuk Airport in north-western Saudi Arabia, where it landed safely. All those on board survived.
“A great miracle happened to us today,” one passenger said afterwards. Others recounted moments of terror as the plane dived and rolled, with some saying they recited the Shema and believed they were about to die. Israeli and Saudi fighter jets were scrambled during the incident but stood down once contact with the aircraft was restored and it became clear the situation was under control.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled his schedule to consult security chiefs. Officials from the IDF, Mossad and Shin Bet assessed that the co-pilot’s actions appeared deliberate rather than a spontaneous quarrel. Investigators are examining whether the intent was to crash the aircraft into the ground, divert it, or carry out an attack resembling the 11 September 2001 hijackings. The co-pilot was taken into custody in Saudi Arabia.
Flydubai confirmed that all passengers were safe and accounted for and said it had opened an investigation in co-operation with the relevant authorities. Israel arranged a recovery flight to bring its citizens home. The captain was reported to be in a serious but stable condition after treatment.
The episode has prompted urgent questions about cockpit security and crew screening on flights to Israel. Passengers praised the swift action of those who intervened, saying the presence of extra pilots on board and the willingness of ordinary travellers to storm the cockpit prevented what officials described as a catastrophe.
By A.Ikechukwu
