Two off-duty pilots reportedly stepped in to safely land a Tel Aviv-bound pᴀssenger jet minutes after the co-pilot stabbed the pilot in what Israeli officials are investigating as an attempted “9/11”-style terror attack.
The stabbing happened around two-and-a-half hours after taking off from Dubai, while the plane was cruising at about 34,000 feet, causing the jet to plummet 17,000 feet in just two minutes, according to Israeli media.
The two men – both “relief” pilots slated to skipper a subsequent flight, pᴀssengers told the BBC – managed to stabilize the Boeing 737 Max with 174 pᴀssengers on board for an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Both relief pilots were European; one of them was British, a pᴀssenger said, but the other’s nationality was not immediately known.
Gruesome footage sH๏τ inside the plane shows crew members crowded in the aircraft’s galley rendering medical ᴀssistance to the pilot, who was on his back next to a blood-smeared wall wearing an oxygen mask.
Another bloodied man, seen bound and appearing unconscious while clad in a blood-soaked pilot’s uniform, is believed to be the co-pilot responsible for the attack.
Israeli media has not identified the alleged perpetrator but has reported that he is of Omani descent and worked at flydubai for less than a year.
A hero pᴀssenger who helped thwart the attempted terror attack described the chaotic moments that immediately followed the attack in a frightening video.
“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,” the pᴀssenger said in a first-person video posted on X.
Another pᴀssenger apparently involved in preventing the terror attack shared a video he filmed for his family.
“We’ve apparently landed in Saudi Arabia. There’s a pilot that’s seriously injured.
“They’re taking him to a hospital. There’s another terrorist who … we don’t know his condition, but he was involved somehow. It was rough. It was rough. We’ll be home in a few hours. I need a change of clothes. Everything is drenched in blood,” the pᴀssenger recounted.
“That’s it. I love you. I’ll tell you what happened when we get back,” he added. “Your dad is a hero. One of the heroes. [I didn’t do it] alone. I’ll see you later. I gotta let my heart rate go down.”