The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated this Wednesday that one of the pilots of the Flydubai flight that had to make an emergency landing, after deviating from its original route between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv, stabbed his colleague and tried to crash the plane with all the people on board.
Netanyahu described what happened as a "very serious security incident" and thanked the intervention of those who, he said, prevented "an enormous disaster", including several crew members and an Israeli passenger with whom he was able to speak about what happened. "During the flight, as it approached Israel, one of the pilots stabbed the other and, apparently, tried to crash the plane. I spoke with one of the Israeli passengers. He told me that the plane began to plummet," the prime minister recounted in a video released through his social media.
An emergency landing after chaos in the cockpit
According to tracking data, the plane experienced a very sharp descent during the journey: it lost about 14,000 feet (more than 4,200 meters) in less than 30 seconds. According to testimonies collected by international media and the version offered by Israeli authorities, one of the pilots allegedly attacked the other with a bladed weapon. The situation caused moments of panic among passengers, while several of them and crew members intervened to control the alleged aggressor.
The Israeli prime minister also reported that calm had been restored at the airport in the Saudi city of Tabuk, where the plane landed, and that all passengers had been evacuated from the danger zone, while the pilot involved was arrested and is being interrogated.
Netanyahu indicated that he had instructed Israel's security services to remain alert to possible new threats. A team from the Israeli national ambulance service, Magen David Adom (MDA), dispatched to the airport on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, transferred a 51-year-old man with trauma to a hospital, after examining all passengers on the flight between the Emirates and Israel.
The version of the Israeli passenger who intervened in the cockpit
Netanyahu stated that this Israeli passenger managed to break into the cockpit and that, together with another crew member, "they neutralized the aggressive pilot while he was trying to sabotage the aircraft's systems." According to his account, another crew member then managed to stabilize the plane.
Later, the Israeli prime minister received the Israeli passenger who helped subdue the alleged attacker, identified as Yaniv, upon his arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport on a Flydubai flight from Saudi Arabia: "I saw the terrorist at the controls, between the two seats. There was no pilot. I grabbed the terrorist, immobilized him, and pulled him out. I grabbed the controls and started pulling them. The plane began to stabilize a bit, and then the pilot told me that he would take control from that moment on," the man explained.
Israel points to a possible attack as the investigation continues
The initial reactions within the Israeli government were more forceful than that of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich described the incident as "terrorism", while Defense Minister Israel Katz defined it as an "attempted jihadist attack".
The company, however, has called for caution in interpreting what happened and has indicated that the causes and motives of the incident are still being investigated. For now, there is no independent confirmation that the episode had a terrorist motivation. However, these statements are still part of an open investigation. Flydubai has confirmed that there was a confrontation in the cockpit and that the plane was able to land safely, but has asked to avoid "premature speculation" and has indicated that the reasons and motives of the incident are still unclear.
