Cockpit Attack Investigation
Flydubai Flight Diverts After Violent Cockpit Attack Probed as Potential Terrorism
Anonymous
A Flydubai Boeing 737 traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after a violent cockpit confrontation and emergency signals, including one indicating possible unlawful interference; the plane landed safely, and its roughly 180 passengers were reported safe. Israeli officials say the Omani co-pilot is suspected of stabbing the captain and possibly trying to crash the aircraft; passengers and crew reportedly intervened, and both pilots were hospitalized. The incident is being investigated as a possible terrorist attack, but the suspect’s motive and the precise circumstances remain unconfirmed, and other explanations have not been ruled out. Israel is examining the co-pilot’s citizenship and whether his presence on the flight complied with aviation arrangements, while officials consider suspending Flydubai service to Israel. Israeli ministers have characterized the episode as terrorism and used it to call for tougher security and broader military action.
Key Points
1
Flight-tracking data showed the aircraft’s altitude dropped sharply before the first emergency signal: Reuters reported a descent of nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds. Another report said it fell from about 34,000 feet to below 17,000 feet in roughly a minute.
2
Israeli media reported that two pilots who were traveling as passengers entered the cockpit and took control of the aircraft before it landed in Tabuk.
3
The investigation involves Mossad, Shin Bet, the Israel Defense Forces and Israel’s Transportation Ministry, according to Kan news.
4
A passenger’s mother told AFP that her daughter called from Saudi Arabia and said, “one pilot tried to kill the other.”
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