Copilot subdued after stabbing pilot in alleged attempt to crash plane full of Israelis

A commercial flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after a bloody clash in the cockpit on Wednesday morning that Israeli officials suspect was an attempt to wrest control of the plane and crash it in an act of terrorism. None of the 180-odd pᴀssengers, almost all of whom were Israeli, were reported injured.

People who were on the plane, and loved ones to whom they’d spoken, told Hebrew media that it appeared the flight’s copilot had stabbed the captain, at which point the plane went out of control. The plane initially plummeted some 17,000 feet in under two minutes.

A group of Israeli pᴀssengers managed to force their way into the cockpit, subdue the stabber and stabilize the plane, witnesses said. It was speculated that the captain, even as he was being attacked, may have opened the cockpit door.

Daniel, an Israeli pᴀssenger, said a pair of off-duty pilots who were on the plane took control of the flight after the ᴀssailant had been subdued. About an hour later, it landed in Saudi Arabia.

“The spinning stopped. It took some — I don’t know, it felt like an eternity, but I think it was two minutes, at least two or three minutes, during which the plane was simply diving and spinning like crazy,” Daniel recounted. “It felt like, that’s it. It’s over. September 11 is happening again.”

In a video statement on Wednesday afternoon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “One of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and all indications show that he tried to crash the plane along with its pᴀssengers.”

He said he had spoken to an Israeli pᴀssenger “who told me that the plane went into a dive. He told me that somehow, he managed to break into the cockpit with one of the crew members, and together they managed to stop the [co]pilot while he was attempting to damage the plane’s systems.”

“We are in continuous contact with the relevant authorities to guarantee the continued safety of the pᴀssengers and their safe return home,” Netanyahu said, praising the bravery of those who thwarted the “extremely serious security incident.”

The Saudis were interrogating the suspect, he said.

Although Israel had not formally designated the incident an act of terrorism, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said bluntly late Wednesday afternoon that the incident “was a jihadist terrorist attack attempt, which was thwarted only thanks to the bravery of several Israeli pᴀssengers who broke into the cockpit, overpowered the terrorist and, with their own hands, restored control of the plane to another flight crew who was present there.”

Screams and blood

Pᴀssenger Daniel said he “definitely” believed it was a terrorist attack. “I heard the screams during the struggle and saw the blood on the floor from the pilot, who was brought out.”

“Those three Israeli guys [who. he said, subdued the attacker] are real heroes. It’s hard to explain just how heroic they were,” he said.

Pᴀssenger Miryam Shira Ohayon described the screaming on the plane and said it was “really on the way to crashing,” before it was saved by “the resourcefulness” of the people who overpowered the copilot “and neutralized him.”

“There was also a doctor who gave first aid,” and others who treated the captain and the copilot, she said, noting that there “was a lot of blood. “There were no other injuries, she said, “but the bigger fear was really a crash, which is exactly what [the ᴀssailant] was trying to do.”

Prior to Netanyahu’s video statement, there were no official statements on the circumstances of the incident by Israeli, Saudi or Emirati authorities. An Israeli official, speaking anonymously, said “the most severe incident” was prevented, evidently referring to the potential for the plane to have crashed with all pᴀssengers on board.

The captain was an Indian citizen, and the copilot an Omani, who had reportedly worked for the airline for less than a year. According to one pᴀssenger, the captain, named in Indian media as Smit Machchhar, was “seriously wounded” and was taken for treatment after the plane landed. Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk airport said the pilot and copilot were both injured and had been hospitalized.

The flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv sent a “squawk code” of 7700, an international emergency signal, some time before 9:30 a.m., according to flight tracking data. It then sent a 7500 code, signaling a hijacking or unlawful interference, a short time later. Israeli air traffic controllers were reportedly unable to make contact with the plane for “long minutes.”

In the intervening time, Israeli Air Force fighter jets were scrambled toward the plane, security sources said. Netanyahu and Katz also held emergency consultations, and the Israel Defense Forces said Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir conducted an ᴀssessment with senior officers.

“The situation is under control, and all measures are currently being taken to bring the Israeli pᴀssengers back to Israel safely,” said the Prime Minister’s Office, in a statement around 10:45.

As of early afternoon, Israeli officials still could not say definitively that the incident was a terror attack, but that was the growing ᴀssessment. Other options were also being looked into, including a mental health episode that was not nationalistic in nature.

It wasn’t immediately clear how the Israelis would be brought back from Saudi Arabia. Israel’s civilian airlines offered to fly them, but there was also the option of using the air force, which would require Saudi approval. The Gulf kingdom has extensive intelligence ties with Israel but no formal diplomatic relationship. By mid-afternoon, it emerged that Israel had been refused permission to send a plane, and the pᴀssengers were to be returned on another flydubai plane.

In the meantime, the pᴀssengers were allowed to disembark, and waited in the airport terminal, where they said they were well cared for.

‘They tried to murder the pilot’

In a dramatic and graphic video from the plane, moments after the alleged attack on the captain by his copilot, the captain could be seen covered in blood on the floor of the aircraft, outside the cockpit, as pᴀssengers tended to him. A second crewmember was seen tied up beside him, seemingly unconscious.

One Israeli pᴀssenger told the person filming: “We were attacked and are guarding the pilot.”

Another pᴀssenger said: “They tried to murder the pilot. We subdued [the attacker].

Someone pointed to the bound man and said: “This is the man who… stabbed him.”

A man who was on board the flight recorded a video to his family that was shared on social media, recounting what happened.

“There’s a pilot who’s seriously wounded, they evacuated him,” he said, in addition to “a terrorist whose condition we don’t know, but he’s tied up.”

“It was rough,” he said. “It was rough. Surely, in a few minutes we’ll return home — I need to change clothes,” he joked, explaining: “These are covered in blood.”