Pilot arrested after in-flight stabbing forced emergency landing of Dubai–Tel Aviv flight

A violent confrontation between two pilots aboard a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv forced an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after, passengers say, the co-pilot stabbed the captain. The attacker was arrested after the plane touched down; 174 people were aboard and several — including members of Israeli security forces and aviation security agents — suffered minor injuries.

Eyewitness intervention and wounded pilots

Shota Musaev, a doctor and passenger who intervened, said he treated the wounded pilot after landing and recorded video showing both injured pilots lying motionless on the cabin floor and blood spattered on a wall. Musaev described the moment he reached the cockpit area: "When we arrived, he (the attacker) was already on the pilot and was stabbing him; and Janiv (another passenger) and all of us who came… he was already stabbing him. It seems that they opened; the pilot is a pilot, you can't know… yes, that was the situation in essence. The poor pilot. He was praying the whole time and was in contact with me, and I feared that we would really lose him."

Passengers told reporters they feared they would die as the aircraft reportedly lost altitude sharply before the diversion. After the emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, the attacker was taken into custody; the identity of the arrested pilot has not been released.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said authorities in Saudi Arabia arrested the pilot and called Janiv Hanuj a "hero" for his intervention after the co-pilot allegedly stabbed the other pilot in an attempt to bring down the passenger plane carrying 174 people to Israel.

Netanyahu described what happened as the flight neared Israeli airspace: "Look, on the flight from Dubai to Israel, while they were approaching Israel, there was an attack from one of the pilots against the other pilot. Apparently, he stabbed him or hit him with an axe. He was bleeding heavily. The plane began to get out of control and began to fall nose-first." He added that the attacker may have struck the captain with an axe; crew emergency equipment can include an axe intended for breaking a cockpit window during evacuation.

Medical teams reported that both the captain and the co-pilot were wounded; several passengers sustained minor injuries. The remaining passengers later reached Israel on another Flydubai flight, where officials continued to coordinate with Saudi authorities and Israeli security services as investigations proceed.

At this stage investigators have not publicly determined a motive for the attack. Authorities in Saudi Arabia and Israel said they will examine the circumstances of the in-flight assault and the security procedures that allowed the altercation to occur in the cockpit area.

Photo: press material from the event