Israeli official says flydubai copilot suspected of trying to crash plane

Update, 30 September, 12:07 Israel time

Israeli officials now suspect the flydubai copilot of trying to seize the aircraft and crash it. A senior Israeli official told Channel 12 that the copilot is under investigation amid mounting indications he meant to take over the plane and bring it down, and that a very severe disaster had been averted, The Times of Israel reported. Commentator Amit Segal wrote that Israel is treating the incident as terrorism, and that the copilot appears to have stabbed the captain many times before crew and passengers forced open the cockpit door. Ynet said the growing assessment in the defence establishment is that it was a terror attack.

A second pilot crew, travelling as passengers in civilian clothes, stopped the attempt, Channel 12 reported, a claim that outlet said is unconfirmed. An N12 correspondent quoted a senior official as saying the extra crew was aboard as part of a drill. The official compared the possible outcome to the attacks of September 11, 2001, or the 1976 Entebbe hijacking.

The pilot under investigation is Omani, according to Walla and Ynet. Abu Ali Express, in an unofficial report, said the other pilot is from the UAE.

Netanyahu and Katz instructed the IDF to send military aircraft to fly the passengers home, Ynet reported, adding that El Al offered help because some passengers were reluctant to return with flydubai. The first photos from the flight show a passenger in a bloodied shirt, The Times of Israel reported.

The story as first reported

A flydubai passenger jet bound for Tel Aviv from Dubai transmitted an emergency code and then a hijacking code on Wednesday before landing at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia, The Times of Israel reported. Israeli Air Force fighter jets were sent up toward the aircraft, and Israeli security sources later attributed the alarm to a fight between the two pilots rather than a hijacking.

The airline itself confirmed that a clash between the pilots caused the diversion, according to Ynet, and later said all passengers were safe. Passengers who spoke to Israeli television described screams, a sudden dive and blood in the cockpit, and said Israelis on board helped restrain an attacker.

What the codes meant

Aircraft broadcast four-digit transponder codes, known as squawk codes, that air traffic controllers and public tracking sites can see. According to flight tracking data cited by The Times of Israel, the flight, listed as FDB1073, first sent 7700, the general international emergency signal, while turning back over the area of the Jordan and Saudi Arabia border. A short time later it switched to 7500, which indicates a hijacking or what aviation calls unlawful interference. The aircraft then dropped off tracking sites for a period before reappearing near Tabuk.

Citing publicly available data, The Times of Israel said that a little over two hours after departure, the Boeing 737 MAX fell from 34,000 feet to around 17,000 feet in less than a minute, briefly climbed, then fell again to below 14,000 feet. For the following hour it flew at an unsteady altitude, which the paper said suggested manual control rather than autopilot. Israeli authorities could not reach the crew during the incident, the paper said. Commentator Amit Segal, citing tracking apps, put the steepest drop at roughly 15,000 feet within a minute.

Israel's military and political response

Flydubai is an airline based in the United Arab Emirates. Because the plane was heading for Israel and signalling a possible hijacking, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) treated it as a potential threat. The IDF spokesperson said the Chief of the General Staff held a situational assessment with the Air Force commander, the heads of the Operations Directorate and Military Intelligence, and other officers. The Times of Israel named them as Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Maj. Gen. Omer Tischler, Maj. Gen. Itzik Cohen and Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder.

Ynet reported that Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Katz convened urgent consultations before security officials signalled that the situation was calming. A post relaying Channel 12 News said Regev was also taking part in the consultations.

What passengers said

An unnamed woman told Channel 12 by text message that after screams were heard, the cockpit was opened and there was blood, and that someone had stabbed the pilot with a pocketknife, The Times of Israel reported. She said passengers recited "Shema Yisrael", the central Jewish declaration of faith traditionally said in moments of danger. Another passenger told the network that one pilot was seriously wounded and control of the plane was lost. A passenger speaking to i24NEWS said Israelis seized the person with the knife, and that one of the pilots was receiving treatment.

Hebrew media, relying on passenger testimony, carried unconfirmed reports that one pilot tried to bring the aircraft down and was stopped by the other with help from passengers. Channel 12 and others reported that the crew consisted of a Russian captain and a Ukrainian first officer; Amit Segal noted the airline had not confirmed this.

Getting passengers home

According to Channel 12, the flydubai chief executive told Israeli transport officials that a plane would fly from Dubai to Saudi Arabia to collect the passengers and continue to Israel, while Saudi teams inspected the aircraft on the ground. Ynet said the airline had opened an investigation.

Where the reports differ

• Passenger numbers: The Times of Israel and others cited some 180 people on board; Ynet said more than 170.
• Israelis aboard: The Times of Israel said dozens; The Jerusalem Post said more than 100.
• Origin: Israel Hayom initially described the flight as coming from Abu Dhabi; all other reports say Dubai.
• Security angle: Early reports said a hijacking had been ruled out and the event was likely not security related, but a later Ynet alert said Israel was not excluding a security incident.

What remains unknown

No official body has said who was wounded, how badly, or who carried the knife. The suspicion that a pilot tried to bring the plane down rests on passenger accounts and has not been confirmed by flydubai, Saudi or Israeli authorities. The nationalities of the crew remain unconfirmed by the airline. The reports do not say what happened to the person who was restrained, whether Saudi authorities have detained anyone, or when the passengers reached Israel.