Pilot “Attacked Co-Pilot and Tried to Hijack Flight to Tel Aviv Before He Was Overpowered by Passengers”

A commercial pilot flying from Dubai to Israel attacked his co-pilot before being overpowered by passengers, potentially averting a major disaster in what is feared to have been an attempted hijacking. The Mail has more.

Passengers have said they believe the pilot was attempting to crash the Flydubai Flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv today after allegedly stabbing his co-pilot.

A “major disaster was narrowly avoided”, an Israeli official told the Jerusalem Post, describing how holidaymakers onboard the flight managed to subdue the pilot by tying him up.

The plane was diverted over Jordanian airspace ​towards Saudi Arabia, transmitting a general emergency signal and then another emergency signal of unlawful interference.

Israel closed its airspace and scrambled warplanes over fears the jet had been hijacked, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened an emergency security meeting with Defence Minister Israel Katz.

Dramatic footage filmed by passengers moments after the alleged attack shows a crewmember covered in blood on the floor of the aircraft, outside the cockpit, as passengers tend to him. 

A second crewmember is seen beside him, seemingly unconscious and covered in blood.

Data from Flightradar24 shows a rapid descent for the jet over Saudi Arabia, just two hours after take-off, descending more than 17,000 feet (over 5,000m) in less than two minutes just after 05.21 UTC (06.21 BST). 

Passengers on the plane told Israel’s Channel 12 that they heard shouts from passengers toward the front of the jet who heard the violent altercation between the pilots.

According to witnesses, two pilots who were at the back of the jet came forward to help land it, with one passenger saying: “I shouted at them to run and take control of the plane.”

As the other pilots took control of the aircraft, passengers ran towards the man who had a knife. 

The growing consensus among the Israeli security establishment, including the IDF, Mossad and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), is that the incident was intended as an act of terror. 

Photographs from the flight show one passenger with a white shirt, which is covered in blood.

Another passenger recorded a video with blood over his face, emerging from a gash that stretches from his forehead down to his nose.

“We’re here during the hijacking of an airplane. At this point we’ve subdued the terrorists, we’re approaching landing. Whoever is hearing me, we need help.

“We’re landing in Tabuk, apparently in Saudi Arabia. An unknown, unfamiliar area. On the plane, everybody is safe and sound, other than the pilot. We need help,” he said.

The plane initially transmitted squawk code 7700, indicating a general emergency, before switching to 7500, which signals unlawful interference, and later reverting to the initial code.

A regional official briefed on the incident said a fight broke out in the cockpit and apparently involved pilots, but added it wasn’t immediately clear what had caused the dispute.

Worth reading in full.