Netanyahu says flydubai copilot tried to crash jet; Katz calls it jihadist plot

Update, 30 September, 17:07 Israel time

Prime Minister Netanyahu said the man who stabbed his colleague had apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone aboard, and praised passengers for exceptional courage and resourcefulness, Ynet reported. Netanyahu said a passenger forced his way into the cockpit. Defense Minister Katz called the incident an attempted jihadist terror attack, according to the same report.

One of the passengers who overpowered the pilot told Ynet that the group realised something was wrong after hearing the two pilots clash, and that they tied the attacker up with headphones. Commentator Amit Segal relayed a similar account of passengers leaping on the pilot. Israel Hayom reported that an Israeli bank executive was among those who subdued the knife-wielding copilot.

A situational assessment raised the possibility that the pilot boarded carrying an axe, News.co.il reported. No other outlet has confirmed this.

Asaf and Ofir Shani, seated near the rear, told Channel 12 that the foreign cabin crew gave almost no instructions as the jet spun, that the intercom seemed not to work, and that attendants told passengers they would land in Tel Aviv, The Times of Israel reported. The same paper noted that a former Israeli envoy to the UAE warned against hastily blaming the airline.

Accounts of the dive still vary: Times of Israel military correspondent Emanuel Fabian, citing tracking data, said the plane fell more than 14,000 feet in under 30 seconds.

Update, 30 September, 16:07 Israel time

A replacement flydubai aircraft has landed in Saudi Arabia and begun boarding the stranded passengers, though some of the Israelis are refusing to get on, Ynet reported. The outlet said arrival at Ben Gurion Airport is expected between 18:00 and 19:00. Ynet also said the assessment that the copilot planned to crash the jet to kill the Israelis on board is firming, and a separate Ynet alert said investigators are checking whether Iran was behind the attack.

The company that operates Tabuk airport said in a statement that both the captain and the first officer were found injured after the plane touched down at 9:45 a.m. (0645 GMT) and were taken to hospital, and that passengers received care, The Times of Israel reported. This is the first account of the injuries from a body on the ground in Saudi Arabia.

N12 correspondent Yaron Avraham said the questioning of the copilot in Saudi Arabia has not yet produced certainty, but suspicion of a nationalist motive is growing. Israel Hayom reported that flydubai flights to Israel have been frozen.

A passenger named Daniel told Channel 12 by phone from Tabuk that he heard what sounded like a fight in the cockpit and, through a partly open door, saw someone being pushed out. Three Israelis seated behind him went forward, he said, before the jet pitched nose down into a steep, spinning dive, The Times of Israel reported. He praised the Israelis who overpowered the attacker.

Update, 30 September, 14:08 Israel time

The copilot suspected of trying to bring down the flydubai jet is being questioned by Saudi authorities on the ground, with Israel involved in the case, according to Ynet. Kan News said the Mossad is running the Israeli side of the incident together with the Shin Bet. The Times of Israel reported that officials are also examining whether the attack stemmed from a mental health episode with no nationalist motive, and that Israeli, Saudi and Emirati authorities had issued no official account. Ynet said the UAE and Saudi Arabia had not formally responded.

N12's Dean Fisher said Israel is checking whether the Omani pilot boarded using a second citizenship, and that officials understand he had been with the airline for under a year. Unconfirmed Hebrew media reports cited by The Times of Israel describe the captain he allegedly stabbed as Emirati.

Video from the cabin shows the captain bloodied on the floor outside the cockpit while passengers treat him, with a bound crewmember lying beside him, apparently unconscious, The Times of Israel reported. A passenger's sister told News.co.il the attacker emerged with a knife shouting "Allahu Akbar". Commentator Amit Segal wrote that the captain was on a ventilator.

Images from Tabuk show part of the rudder missing from the tail. Arik Zer, a former Shin Bet flight security chief, told Channel 12 the plunge most likely caused the damage, The Times of Israel reported.

Counts still differ: Abu Ali Express put those aboard at 174, including 27 children, while Israel Hayom said more than 170 Israelis were saved. Haaretz said the descent began at 8:22 A.M.

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.