Pilot stabbed co-pilot in apparent attempt to crash Israel-bound plane, Netanyahu says

A pilot stabbed his fellow pilot aboard a passenger plane headed to Israel on Wednesday and appears to have tried to crash the flight, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Calling the altercation a “very serious security incident,” he said that almost all passengers onboard the FlyDubai flight bound for Tel Aviv from Dubai were Israeli.

“As they approached Israel, one of the pilots stabbed the other,” Netanyahu added, saying he had spoken to a passenger. “It appears he attempted to crash the plane with everyone on board.”

The airline, FlyDubai, said an “altercation” had occurred in the flight deck of Flight FZ 1073.

The aircraft was “successfully secured” by on-duty crew travelling onboard the flight. They were able to divert and land the aircraft safely at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport, known as Tabuk Airport, the airline said.

“At this early stage, the underlying reasons and motives behind this event are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation,” the airline said, adding: “We urge all parties to refrain from premature speculation while authorities gather the facts.”

The incident briefly raised fears of hijacking, and the Israeli military scrambled at least two jets in response.

Earlier, Motti Cohen Or, a passenger on the flight, told NBC News that he heard a woman shouting, “Someone is stabbing someone in the cockpit.”

The plane then started shaking, with the aircraft briefly diving “toward the ground,” Cohen Or, 70, from central Israel, said. Someone then broke into the cockpit and said both the pilot and co-pilot had been stabbed, he added.

An assailant was subdued and a pilot who was onboard was able to “take control” of the plane, Cohen Or said. NBC News was not immediately able to independently verify his account.

Cluster2, which operates at several airports across Saudi Arabia, said both the captain and the first officer of Flydubai Flight 1073 had been injured and taken to a hospital after landing.

Video from onboard the Boeing 737 appeared to show two people lying on the floor, visibly bloodied as others crowd around them.

The mother of another passenger told NBC News that her daughter had feared for her life as the plane “started to go down and to shake.”

Yasmin Abukasis said her daughter, Miriam Shira Ohayon, said a pilot had been wounded, and that one of the pilots had a knife.

NBC News was not immediately able to independently confirm details of the incident.

Abukasis said her daughter had described the ordeal as “crazy, like a movie.”

FlyDubai incident following a reported stabbing left at least two men badly injured and forced an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. — A still image taken from video verified by NBC News shows a chaotic scene onboard the Flydubai plane as a man covered in blood receives treatment.via Telegram

The Flydubai flight initially triggered a 7700 “general emergency” signal, aviation tracking site Flightradar24 reported. It then switched to a 7500 code, suggesting “unlawful interference,” before switching back to a 7700, the tracking site said.

It said “extreme fluctuations” were observed in the altitude data transmitted from the flight, which appeared to drop by 14,125 feet in just 29 seconds, according to Flightradar24.

A spokesperson for the Israel Airports Authority said in a statement that it had opened a waiting and information area at Ben Gurion Airport for passengers’ families.

The spokesperson said family members would continue to be updated “as the situation develops.”

Earlier, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee expressed relief in a post on X that the incident didn’t turn out to be “more serious.”

“This had everyone in the Middle East (esp Israel) on FULL ALERT this morning,” he said. “Having pilots inflight detouring to ‘fist city’ not your ordinary experience.”

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