Flydubai latest: A pilot may have sought to crash Israel-bound flight, Netanyahu says

• Hijacking attempt: A pilot on the Israel-bound Flydubai flight diverted to Saudi Arabia stabbed the other pilot and appears to have tried to crash the plane, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said . He said passengers and crew subdued the assailant, who has been arrested.

• Passengers’ fear: The incident caused the aircraft, traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, to plummet 17,400 feet in less than two minutes, flight tracking data shows. One passenger told Israeli media there were moments she believed she was going to die.

• Repatriation flight: A replacement Flydubai flight carrying most of the stranded passengers just landed at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. Saudi Arabia earlier rejected an Israeli request to send a military or civilian plane to bring passengers .

Aviation security has increased significantly in recent years, but threats are very rarely expected from within the cockpit, according to CNN national security analyst Alex Plitsas.

Plitsas told CNN’s Pamela Brown that aviation protocols mainly focus on external security threats to an aircraft “from the passengers, to potential outside terrorists — and even the security measures that are put into place after 9/11, such as locking the cockpit doors on the inside, were really meant to prevent an external threat,” Plitsas explained.

He added that today’s incident is rare because “you had (the threat from) a pilot or copilot who happened to be in the cockpit (who) has gone undiscovered for one reason or another.”

“So, this pretty much exploited most of the loopholes in the system,” he said.

A Flydubai plane bringing passengers from the diverted flight has just landed at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport, according to flight tracking data.

Passengers from the diverted Flydubai flight are now on their way back to Tel Aviv, according to flight tracking data.

A new Flydubai plane was sent to Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia to pick up the passengers who landed there after their original flight was diverted following what officials said was an attempted hijacking.

Families of the passengers who have gathered at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport have been told the plane would land at 6:15 p.m. local time, although that timing now appears to have shifted to 6:25 p.m. local time, according to the airport’s expected arrivals information.

A number of Israeli officials have taken to social media to react to today’s events surrounding Flydubai flight FZ1073, which was flying from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to Tel Aviv in Israel, before a suspected attempted hijacking.

Many commended the bravery of those on board the plane:

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the incident ended in a “great miracle” and moment of “heroism.” He added that Israel will act “in every way to investigate the incident in depth together with our Emirati partners.”

Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz called the incident on the plane “an attempted jihadist terror attack” that was “thwarted only thanks to the heroism of a number of Israeli passengers.” He did not give any evidence regarding his claim that the attempted attack was a jihadist one.

Yair Golan , the leader of the left-wing Democrats party, said he was filled with pride “for the brave Israelis who, in a moment of danger, displayed extraordinary resourcefulness and courage” on board the plane.

Itamar Ben-Gvir , the far-right Minister of National Security, thanked the “heroic passengers” on the plane, but said that “Israel’s security doctrine must be taken to the level!”

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that his country “ must relate to the intention and not to the results,” adding that the perpetrator of the attack “must pay as if he murdered. He and any state or terrorist organization that sent him.” No potential motivation for the attempted hijacking has yet been given by any authorities.

Israel’s former defense minister Benny Gantz said that while not all details from this morning’s incident are yet known, “it is already clear that Israelis are a rare breed. The resourcefulness and courage displayed by the passengers—in the face of clear mortal danger—are precisely the things our people are made of.”

Danny Danon , Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, said that the “Israeli passengers on today’s flight from Dubai showed extraordinary determination and resourcefulness, helping prevent a major disaster.”

Family members waiting for passengers from the diverted Flydubai flight at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv have told CNN most have now boarded a substitute Flydubai plane that was sent to Tabuk airport to pick them up.

However, they said some three families have refused to board the new flight and are insisting on flying only with an Israeli air carrier.

Israel was exploring the possibility of sending either a military or civilian plane to Saudi Arabia to bring passengers, but Riyadh has refused to allow Israeli planes to collect them , an Israeli official told CNN. Saudi Arabia has no diplomatic relations with Israel.

One of the pilots of the Israel-bound Flydubai flight FZ1073 stabbed the other pilot and appears to have tried to crash the plane , Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a short while ago.

Here’s what we know, and don’t know, the incident so far :

When this happened: The plane issued a distress call at 8:31 a.m. local time this morning (1:31 a.m. ET), according to publicly available data. Minutes later, the flight squawked code 7500, which signals an aircraft hijacking. “During the flight as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot,” Netanyahu said.

Where the plane was diverted: The incident caused the aircraft, traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, to plummet 17,400 feet in less than two minutes, flight tracking data shows. It was then diverted to Saudi Arabia .

Some details on the attack: After stabbing his colleague, the pilot carrying out the attack seemed to be attempting to sabotage the aircraft’s systems and trying to crash it, according to passengers, Netanyahu said.

Some details on the attacker: The attempted hijacker of the aircraft was its co-pilot, Israeli officials have said. One official told CNN that the co-pilot was an Omani national.

Some details on those injured: Both the captain and co-pilot of the plane were injured and taken to hospital , Saudi Arabia’s leading aviation operator said.

Where passengers are now: Most of the passengers on flight FZ1073 have since traveled to Israel on a substitute Flydubai plane that was sent to Tabuk airport to pick them up, their family members told CNN. Three families have refused to board the new flight and are insisting on flying only with an Israeli air carrier, the families said.

Who the attacker was: The identity of the attacker has not yet been shared by authorities.

How the attack took place: Details of any weapon used to attack the captain has not been shared. How the attacker was able to bring this weapon onto the plane, and exactly how the attack took place, is also currently unknown.

What the motive was: No potential motivation for the attempted hijacking has yet been given by any authorities.

How many people were on board: The exact number of people who were on the aircraft has not been shared. Though Flydubai said that all passengers are safe and accounted for , it is unknown if any were injured in this morning’s events. Netanyahu said that “almost all” of the passengers on the flight were Israelis.

CNN’s Tal Shalev, Jeremy Diamond, Ivana Kottasová, Becky Pinnington, Eyad Kourdi, Sophie Tanno, Kim Kelaita, Dana Karni and Billy Stockwell contributed to this reporting.

One of the pilots of the diverted Israel-bound Flydubai flight stabbed the other pilot and appears to have tried to crash the plane, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu said “almost all” of the passengers on the flight were Israelis, some of whom were able to break into the cockpit with crew members and subdue the assailant.

“I spoke with one of the Israeli passengers. He told me that the plane went into a spin and began to dive. He told me that somehow he managed to break into the cockpit with one of the crew members and together they neutralized the stabbing pilot while he was trying to sabotage the aircraft’s systems,” Netanyahu said.

The pilot has been arrested and is being interrogated by Saudi authorities, Netanyahu confirmed. “We are maintaining continuous with the relevant authorities to ensure the continued safety of the passengers and their return .”

Israel enforces some of the strictest aviation security protocols in the world, with measures governed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Israel (CAAI) and the Israel Airports Authority (IAA).

Departing passengers are required to undergo pre-screening and questioning as part of security checks. Ben Gurion Airport advises passengers to arrive three hours ahead of their flight to allow for this.

As well as this pre-screening, passengers are required to pass multiple passport checks, advanced baggage scanning and, sometimes, full-body screening before boarding their flights.

Foreign airlines must obtain approval from Israel’s Aviation Security Operation Center (ASOC) before they can operate to and from the coutnry’s airports.

A history of hijackings and terminal attacks explain why Israel has adopted a tight security protocol at airports.

In 2022, Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) resolved an aviation-security dispute that had threatened to halt Israeli airlines’ services to Dubai. Israel’s Shin Bet security agency had raised concerns over security arrangements at Dubai International Airport at the time.

The two sides eventually reached a new security agreement and agreed to work closely together on airport security.

A Flydubai crew member diverted and landed the Tel Aviv-bound aircraft in Saudi Arabia after an altercation broke out in the cockpit, a spokesperson for the airline told CNN, adding that a motive has not yet been established.

According to the spokesperson, the aircraft was “successfully secured by on-duty Flydubai crew traveling on the flight,” and landed safely at Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk Airport.

Flydubai has sent two replacement aircraft to Tabuk to aid the passengers and crew of the diverted flight, the spokesperson said, adding that an investigation has been launched.

“At this early stage, the underlying reasons and motives behind this event are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation,” the spokesperson said.

“We urge all parties to refrain from premature speculation while authorities gather the facts.”

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has responded to today’s incident involving a diverted Tel Aviv-bound Flydubai flight, saying Israelis on board “helped subdue the copilot who apparently tried to take over the plane.”

It could have been a “horrific incident,” but everyone is safe, Huckabee posted on X. He added that details remain unclear at this stage.

Israeli sources told CNN they suspect the co-pilot tried to hijack the plane after stabbing the captain, forcing it to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

Videos taken by passengers on the Flydubai flight show the bloody aftermath of what they said was the stabbing of their pilot — and a huge relief that the perpetrator was subdued and the plane brought back under control.

The pilot and co-pilot were injured in the incident; Israeli sources suspect that the co-pilot stabbed the captain before trying to hijack the plane.

Another man said the pilot was “severely wounded” in the incident.

“We are on the flight from Dubai. We took over the flight here, an attacker with a knife stabbed one of the pilots, we just jumped and took him out of the cockpit a few guys, everything is okay now,” the man, who is not identified in the video shared on social media, says.

“There is a pilot here who is severely wounded apparently another pilot inside who is wounded but managing to land the plane. There are two crew members in the plane we made sure they close the door. I love you and everything is okay,” the man adds.

Another passenger, seemingly recording a message for his loved ones which was shared online by Israel’s Channel 14 said the attacker was tied up by the passengers.

“Everything is okay we landed, probably in Saudi Arabia. There is a pilot here who is severely wounded, they are evacuating him. I need to change my clothes everything is covered in blood.”

Saudi Arabia has refused to allow Israeli planes to collect the stranded passengers who were on board Flydubai flight FZ1073, an Israeli official told CNN.

Israel was exploring the possibility of sending either a military or civilian plane to Saudi Arabia to bring passengers who landed there after the diversion of the flight, which was originally heading to Tel Aviv, an Israeli official told CNN earlier.

Saudi Arabia, however, has no diplomatic relations with Israel. Until 2022, Israeli airlines and Israel-bound flights were forbidden from even entering its airspace.

Saudi Arabia’s leading aviation operator Cluster2 said earlier that coordination was being carried out to arrange a replacement aircraft following this morning’s incident.

CNN has reached out to the Saudi government for .

CNN’s Abbas Al Lawati, Eyad Kourdi and Catherine Nicholls contributed to this reporting.

Two Israeli sources tell CNN they suspect the co-pilot of the Israel-bound Flydubai flight was trying to hijack the plane after stabbing the captain.

The sources said it was not yet clear whether the intention would have been to crash the plane or to land it and take hostages.

Both the pilot and co-pilot were injured in the incident on the flight which was traveling to Tel Aviv but forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

Photographs apparently taken aboard the diverted Flydubai flight show a male passenger in a bloodied t-shirt and jeans.

The two photos, circulating widely on social media, show the unidentified man sitting in his seat and standing up, seemingly uninjured, but with large blood stains on his clothes.

Several of those who were on the flight have told Israeli media that the attacker was subdued by the passengers after stabbing the pilot.

A host of Israeli agencies, including Shin Bet, Mossad, the military and the country’s transportation ministry, are involved in investigating the Flydubai incident that took place this morning, an Israeli official told CNN.

One of the main questions being looked into is why the flight crew included a pilot from a country with which Israel does not have diplomatic relations, the official said.

One of the pilots on Flydubai flight FZ1073 was Omani , two Israeli officials told CNN earlier. One of the officials said the Omani national was the co-pilot, allegedly the attacker in the violent incident.

Oman and Israel do not have formal diplomatic relations. It is not yet clear how the Omani pilot would have obtained clearance to fly to Israel.

CNN’s Jeremy Diamond and Catherine Nicholls contributed to this reporting.

The mother of a passenger on board Flydubai flight FZ1073 said that her daughter told her the pilot of the aircraft was stabbed.

The pilot was “screaming ‘help, help, help’,” Yasmin Abukasi told the Reuters news agency.

“She said it’s crazy, crazy time. It’s very hard to explain what’s happened there, but it was big stress. And after the plane start to go down, and they thinks they’re going to (crash) and now they land in Saudi, the people (are) in stress and shock,” she said.

Footage from the diverted Israel-bound Flydubai flight posted on social media shows passengers celebrating as the plane lands in Saudi Arabia.

People in the video can be seen clapping, chanting and cheering as the aircraft touches down at Tabuk Airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia.

The aircraft dropped more than 17,000 feet, according to tracking data reviewed by CNN, after a “violent incident” broke out between the pilots.

The captain and co-pilot of the diverted flight were both injured in this morning’s incident and taken to hospital, Saudi Arabia’s leading aviation operator Cluster2 said in a statement .

Meanwhile, a passenger told Israel’s i24 channel that there were moments she believed she was going to die.

CNN’s Eyad Kourdi, Catherine Nicholls, Dana Karni and Ivana Kottasová contributed reporting.

Flydubai is wholly owned by the Dubai government, which established the airline in 2008 through the Dubai Aviation Corporation.

Operating from Dubai International Airport, the airline serves 131 destinations including to the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Asia.

Flydubai is often considered as the low-cost sister carrier to the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Emirates airline. It is a separate entity, although both ultimately the same owner - the Dubai government, via its sovereign wealth fund, the Investment Corporation of Dubai.

Currently, the airline’s fleet consists of variations of the Boeing 737 aircraft.

The airline has maintained a solid safety record since its establishment. Its only fatal incident was in March 2016, when a flight from Dubai to Rostov-on-Don, Russia, crashed during a landing attempt amid high ground-level wind and poor visibility. All 62 passengers and crew members on board were killed.

More details are beginning to emerge surrounding this morning’s incident aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073, which was traveling from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to Tel Aviv in Israel.

Israeli authorities suspect the Flydubai incident may have been an attempted terrorist attack , two Israeli officials and an Israeli source familiar with the situation said.

An Israeli official told CNN that information gathered suggests the co-pilot tried to stab the pilot , and a passenger helped to take him down.

The captain and co-pilot of the plane were both injured in the incident and taken to hospital, Saudi Arabia’s leading aviation operator said.

One of the pilots on Flydubai flight FZ1073 was Omani , two Israeli officials told CNN. One of the officials said the Omani national was the co-pilot, who was allegedly the attacker.

We’ll bring you more on this as we get it.

CNN’s Tal Shalev, Jeremy Diamond, Dana Karni, Ivana Kottasová and Eyad Kourdi contributed to this reporting.

One of the pilots on Flydubai flight FZ1073 was Omani, two Israeli officials told CNN.

One of the officials said the Omani national was the co-pilot, who was alledegly the attacker in the violent incident that took place aboard the plane.

Oman and Israel do not have formal diplomatic relations. It is not yet clear how the Omani pilot would have obtained clearance to fly to Israel.