Flydubai pilot stabbed colleague; aircraft diverted to Tabuk

A Flydubai Boeing 737 en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv was diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after an onboard incident in which one pilot was reportedly stabbed by the other, passengers and officials said. The aircraft, carrying about 150 people, landed safely in Tabuk following emergency signals.

Data and passenger accounts

Flight-tracking site Flightradar24 recorded an initial general emergency alert from the aircraft, followed minutes later by a second alert indicating possible unlawful interference. The service's data also show the jet suddenly descended roughly 4,200 metres in under 30 seconds before the first distress signal.

Passengers described chaotic scenes in the cabin. Jasmin Abu Kasis said her daughter, Miriam, who was on board, told her she heard screams and that "a man with a knife forced one of the pilots to lie on the floor and there was blood everywhere." Another passenger said one pilot was stabbed by the other and that passengers in the forward cabin helped remove the attacker from the flight deck.

Israeli authorities are investigating whether one of the pilots attempted to bring down the aircraft while flying toward Tel Aviv, though that has not been officially confirmed. A senior Israeli official told reporters that a major catastrophe was averted.

Israeli security treated the alerts as a possible hijacking at first and scrambled fighter jets after the distress calls, since Israel has no formal diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia, where the plane ultimately landed. Authorities later concluded the warning appeared to have been triggered by violence between the pilots inside the cockpit.

"A Flydubai aircraft experienced an incident en route to Tel Aviv and was diverted to Tabuk, where it landed safely. All passengers are alive and well," the airline spokesman said.

Photo: DPA)