Passengers aboard a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv recounted scenes of panic, including screams, blood in the cockpit and a sudden dive, after the aircraft made an emergency landing at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, with Israeli passengers reportedly helping crew restrain an attacker, The Times of Israel reported. In a video moments after the fight, a passenger with blood on his face tells the camera, "We're here during the hijacking of an airplane. At this point we’ve subdued the terrorists, we’re approaching landing. Whoever is hearing me, we need help."
"We’re landing in Tabuk, apparently in Saudi Arabia. An unknown, unfamiliar area. On the plane, everybody is safe and sound, other than the pilot. We need help," he added.
Wild reports about pilots emerge
According to Times of Israel, one of the piolt tried to crash the plane but someone in civilian clothes saved it. Notably, these are the early developments in the case and officials confirmations on these reports are yet to be made public.
According to the unnamed official, the copilot is being investigated amid growing indications that he tried to take over the plane in order to crash it. Some media reported quoted that the pilots were of Russian and Ukrainian origins. While Israeli media reported that copilot was Omani and the pilot was Emirati. An official confirmation is still awaited.
Passenger claims someone entered the cockpit with knife
A passenger reportedly told Israeli media that "someone had entered the cockpit with knife." The first images to emerge from the troubled flight show a passenger wearing a blood-stained T-shirt, following reports of an altercation inside the cockpit. However, the exact reason for the chaos is still awaited.
"cockpit was opened and blood was seen inside"
A passenger told Israeli media that passengers heard screams before the cockpit was opened and blood was seen inside. "We heard screams on the plane. Then they opened the cockpit, and we saw blood, and someone had stabbed the pilot with a pocketknife,” the unnamed woman told the network via text message, according to The Times of Israel.
She said Israeli passengers helped restrain the attacker along with members of the crew.
“We prayed, ‘Shema Yisrael,’” she said. “There were also moments when we thought we weren’t going to make it out alive.”
Another passenger, who identified herself as Noam, told Channel 12 that passengers realised something was wrong after hearing screams. “Screams began on the plane, by passengers who realized what was happening. We understand that one of the pilots was stabbed and seriously wounded, and they lost control of the plane. It started to dive quickly. It was very scary,” she said.
Another passenger speaking to Channel 12 says her husband helped "neutralise the terrorist" on board the flight. The woman, Meital, says a member of the flight crew in the cockpit "tried to crash the plane" and was subdued by passengers. "Someone shouted 'stabbing' and my husband immediately understood what was happening and rushed to the front of the plane, and along with other Israelis they neutralized the terrorist,” she says. “There were stabbings and a lot of blood,” Meital says.
What happened with flydubai mid-air?
According to local media report, the flydubai flight took off from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates at 7:05 am and was scheduled to land at Ben Gurion Airport at around 9:30 am. However, about 90 minutes into the flight, after entering Jordanian airspace, the aircraft transmitted code 7700, the international emergency and distress signal, followed by code 7500, which indicates a hijacking. At the same time, the aircraft turned back, re-entered Saudi Arabian airspace and began flying at a lower altitude over the kingdom.
The aircraft descended 17,400 feet, from 34,000 to around 16,600 feet, over northwestern Saudi Arabia in just over two minutes at around 1.20 a.m. ET, flight tracking data reviewed by CNN shows. The aircraft then transmitted an emergency signal at 1.32 am ET. CNN reported that the "violent incidents" happened mid-air between the two pilots.
(With inputs from agencies)
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