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Israel-bound plane rerouted to Saudi Arabia; pilots wounded in reported fight

Started 30 Sept, 14:00 2 events Updated 1d ago
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  1. Security30 Sept, 14:00

    Israel-bound plane rerouted to Saudi Arabia; pilots wounded in reported fight

    Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Two pilots were wounded after they reportedly fought on board the plane they were flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv, and which was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. The flydubai plane landed in Tabuk at 9:45 am (11:45am PKT) and its “captain and copilot were found to have injuries and were transported to hospital”, a statement from the company operating the airport said. The low-cost carrier had earlier said flight FZ 1073 “experienced an incident while en route”. “The aircraft has landed safely in Tabuk Airport (TUU) and all passengers are safe and accounted for.” Several Israeli media outlets reported that a fight had broken out between the plane’s pilots, reportedly causing a distress signal to be activated. Israeli media also reported that two other pilots were flying on the plane as passengers, and that they had taken over the controls to carry out the emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. Neither the airline nor authorities of the countries involved provided details on what happened on board or on the pilots’ nationalities, but some Israeli media said one was Omani and the other Emirati. According to data from the Flightradar website, the aircraft suddenly lost altitude during the flight, dropping from nearly 34,000 feet at 05:21am GMT to less than 17,000 feet at 05:22am GMT (10:22am PKT). The flight from Dubai diverted over Jordanian airspace towards Saudi Arabia, transmitting a general emergency signal before transmitting another emergency signal that indicates a possible unlawful interference several minutes later, according to flight tracking website Flightradar24. The Boeing 737 plane then again transmitted the general emergency signal before landing at Tabuk airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia, the website said. There were 180 Israelis on board the plane, according to Israel’s far-right national security minister Ben Gvir, who claimed the incident involved a “terrorist”. ‘Going down very fast’ An AFP correspondent in Tabuk, where the plane landed, saw heavy security near the airport, with several police vehicles and an ambulance parked at the terminal. Access to the terminal remained open. At Ben Gurion airport, families gathered to await the return of their loved ones. Yasmin Abukasis, mother of passenger Miryam Shira Ohayon, told AFP that her daughter called her from Saudi Arabia: “She said one pilot tried to kill the other pilot with a knife. They heard shouting”. Another passenger went to the cockpit “and saw a lot of blood. She started screaming ‘come help’ and some people went in and caught the guy”, she added. “All the while, the plane started going down very fast. People thought they were going to die.” She added that two other pilots in the back later took over the controls. Israeli media, citing anonymous sources, reported that the passengers on board had stepped in to separate the two pilots during their altercation, publishing photos of a passenger with a bloodied T-shirt. Channel 12 reported that authorities were investigating whether or not one of the pilots had attempted a possible suicide by trying to crash the plane, with the other pilot apparently intervening to prevent the crash. In a video from inside the plane that was reposted by Israeli social media users, one passenger, blood dripping from an open wound on his head, pleaded for assistance and said they were descending into Saudi Arabia, with which Israel has no diplomatic relations. “We are here during an attack on the plane. We just subdued the terrorists and are preparing to land,” the man said in Hebrew. Israeli jets scrambled Israel’s Kan public broadcaster, Times of Israel and Channel 12 reported that the Israeli military had scrambled fighter jets after fears of a possible hijacking — with the hypothesis later dismissed. Times of Israel, citing Kan, said the Mossad intelligence agency, Shin Bet and the Israeli military were involved in the investigation into the incident. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alleged that one of the pilots had planned to crash the plane and kill its mostly Israeli passengers, who stopped a “major disaster”. “During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board,” Netanyahu said in a video message, calling the passengers “heroes” who “prevented a major disaster”. Netanyahu’s office earlier said he had held consultations on the matter and was “monitoring developments”. “The incident is under control, and all measures are currently being deployed in order to return the Israeli passengers safely to Israel,” a statement said. Meir Zohar, the father of passenger Ido Zohar, told AFP his son had told him by text message that he was well, but that he had no other news. “He told us that everything is okay, he didn’t tell me that much.” Flydubai operates daily flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv, a route that is popular among Israeli nationals. It is not the first time a flight between Israel and the UAE has landed in Saudi Arabia. A Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Riyadh in September 2025 due to a medical emergency, Israeli media reported at the time.

    Dawn – World
  2. Diplomatic01 Oct, 09:43

    UAE says investigation launched into diverted flydubai flight

    Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    The United Arab Emirates’ chief prosecutor on Thursday ordered an investigation into the incident aboard flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv, which made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after a reported altercation in the cockpit. The state news agency WAM said the attorney general had ordered the probe, adding that “the investigation team has launched its work into the incident” that forced the plane to land in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. The investigation will examine the circumstances and motives, including whether it was linked to any militant activity or involved prior planning or direction. UAE judicial authorities have jurisdiction over the incident because the aircraft is registered in the UAE and flies under its flag, the statement said, adding that UAE law applies to crimes committed on board “even if they occur outside the country’s territory”. Passengers described rushing the cockpit after the plane suddenly plummeted, losing around 17,000 feet of altitude in the span of a minute, according to the Flightradar24 website. Airline flydubai said all the passengers — of whom 166 out of 174 were Israeli, according to media reports — were safe, adding that the reasons for the altercation were unknown. Netanyahu praises Indian pilot Meanwhile, Israel has alleged that the co-pilot of the flight had tried to crash the aircraft but that the pilot and passengers intervened and averted the crash. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu credited the wounded pilot — identified as Indian national Smit Machchhar — and passengers of the flight, with Israeli officials terming the incident “an attempted terrorist attack”. Netanyahu hailed Smit’s “extraordinary bravery”, saying he fought off his copilot, preventing a “catastrophic mid-air disaster”. “During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board,” Netanyahu claimed in a separate video message. In a Fox News interview, he also claimed an Israeli passenger helped overpower the attacker, identifying him only as Yanik and describing him as a plumber. “An amazing act of heroism — of his, of the Indian pilot, of the people who helped them. They stopped a disaster that could have been global,” Netanyahu insisted. The Indian embassy said Machchhar was being treated at a hospital in Saudi Arabia, and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi described him as a “HERO” in a social media post on Thursday. “His valour helped save hundreds of lives,” Modi said. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he had spoken with his UAE counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and agreed “to collaborate against extremist elements seeking to harm security and undermine stability”. US President Donald Trump, after discussing the incident with Netanyahu, said: “It seems as though the co-pilot was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack-job.” Riyadh turned down Israeli requests to send planes for passengers Saudi Arabia turned down multiple requests by Israel to send its own planes to retrieve passengers from the diverted flydubai flight, a Saudi source with knowledge of the matter told AFP on Thursday. “They asked to send military warplanes. Two or three direct to Tabuk airport,” the source told AFP. “Turned down.” “Then asked to send [El Al] commercial one. Turned down as well.” The source also told AFP the message was communicated through the UAE and not directly with the Israelis. The Saudi source said the kingdom fulfilled its “international obligation” and assisted the passengers of the flight after they made the emergency landing, emphasising that the nationality of the travellers had no impact on their decision. “We were to act the same way, regardless of the nationalities of flydubai passengers,” the source added. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has resisted pressure to join the US-backed Abraham Accords and establish diplomatic ties with Israel. Riyadh has maintained that it will not normalise relations with Israel without a clear path to Palestinian statehood. But the kingdom has long been seen as the most consequential potential addition to the Abraham Accords, with negotiations advancing at various points before stalling. ’Out of control’ AFPTV images showed another flydubai plane carrying the passengers touching down at Tel Aviv airport, hours after their initial flight was diverted to Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk. Footage shared by Netanyahu’s office showed the premier meeting passengers after their arrival in Tel Aviv and embracing a man in a bloodied shirt. Passenger Miryam Shira Ohayon described the plane as being “pretty much out of control” as the incident unfolded over Jordan. “The co-pilot tried to murder the pilot and basically carry out a suicide attack on the plane,” she told reporters by speakerphone held up by her mother at Ben Gurion Airport. “It was really on the way to crashing, and it was simply the resourcefulness of many people who took control of the co-pilot and neutralised him,” she said. The airline said it was another “on-duty flydubai crew travelling on the flight who diverted and landed the aircraft safely” and that it was suspending flights to Israel while an investigation took place. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz alleged that the incident was an attempted terror attack, but did not identify his source of that assessment. The director general of Israel’s foreign ministry also called it “an attempted terrorist attack against Israelis, the United Arab Emirates, and the Abraham Accords”, referring to the normalisation deal the two countries signed in 2020. ‘Terrifying’ Passenger Almog Italie told AFP it was like “we were having very big turbulence” before fighting erupted near the cockpit. “The other passengers from the front took over control,” he told AFP via video call from Saudi Arabia. Passengers from an earlier diverted flydubai flight are seen after landing at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport in Lod on September 30. – AFP Another passenger, Chaim Nazarovitz, said the ordeal had been “very terrifying”, adding that for a moment he felt like he was “not among the living”. Israeli media reported that the military scrambled fighter jets after concerns emerged that the aircraft might have been hijacked— with the hypothesis later dismissed. The incident comes months into a regional war that erupted in late February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran and just ahead of Israel’s elections due at the end of October. On Tuesday, Netanyahu said there were “indications” that Israel’s enemies could try to attack ahead of elections and was accused of “fear-mongering” by the opposition chief.

    Dawn – HomeFree Malaysia Today

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