FlyDubai Incident: Pilot was stabbed on flight to Israel - diverted to Saudi Arabia

[ghazi52]

FlyDubai flight to Tel Aviv clearly dips massively in altitude from 30,000 to 15,000 feet

 

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[BHAN85]

Israel: Flydubai pilot tried to hijack Tel Aviv flight, all passengers safe | The Jerusalem Post

Israeli official says “major disaster avoided” after pilot stabbed his co-pilot, attempted to hijack aircraft with over 100 Israeli passengers • Israelis on board helped subdue would-be hijacker

www.jpost.com

the flight destination was tel aviv, 100 israeli people on board, but it landed in ksa, although situation was under control in the landing.

israel has the policy of dont allow flights who emit hijack emergency code even when situation is controlled later.

so like in iran war, ksa swallowed problems related to israel.

 

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[BHAN85]

old tweet, it was hijack and crash attempt by one pilot.

 

[ghazi52]

Pilot screamed for help as plane started to 'lose control'
BBC​

We can now bring you more from Yasmin Abukasis, who has been speaking to journalists from Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, where the plane was due to land.

Yasmin says her daughter, who was on the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, phoned her to say she heard screaming on the plane as a pilot called for help.

"The plane start to lose control. So all the people, they scream, they think they are going," Yasmin tells AP news agency.

Speaking to Reuters, Yasmin says two other pilots took control of the plane as other passengers ran towards a man who had a knife.

Media caption,
Mother of passenger on Flydubai flight describes incident

 

[ghazi52]

Plane plummeted by 17,000ft in two minutes, data shows

By Paul Brown​

BBC

The flight bound for Tel Aviv dropped extremely rapidly over Saudi Arabia just over two hours after take-off from Dubai, flight-tracking data from Flightradar24 examined by BBC Verify shows.

Just before 05:21 UTC (06:21 BST; 08:21 local time) the plane was cruising at a recorded altitude of 34,000 feet (10,400m).

In less than two minutes it had descended more than 17,000 feet (5,200m).

An emergency signal was issued from the plane about 10 minutes later and the available data shows significant ongoing fluctuations in altitude throughout the rest of the flight to Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia.

 

[ghazi52]

'Major disaster averted', officials reportedly tell Israeli media​

BBC

More now from Israeli media, who have been speaking to unnamed Israeli officials.

"A very serious disaster was averted," one of those officials tells Channel 12.

The Jerusalem Post also cites an unnamed Israeli official as saying a "major disaster was narrowly avoided".

 

[ghazi52]

Captain and first officer injured, says Saudi airport
​

BBC

The company that owns Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia - where the plane was diverted - has just put out a statement.

It says both the captain and first officer on the Flydubai plane sustained injuries and were taken to the hospital. It does not state the cause of the injuries.

The airport's air traffic control centre received a distress call from the Flydubai plane at 08:44 local time, the statement says, during which the plane requested an emergency landing

The aircaft landed safely around an hour after, the statement adds.

 

[Corax]

This is interesting, according to one eye witness...

Two pilots who were at the back of the plane came forward to help land it, one passenger says: "I shouted at them to run and take control of the plane"

I know that El Al flights have undercover security and maybe pilots, and it looks like this might apply to this flight as well.

 

[BHAN85]

the hijacker pilot is from Oman (ynetnews)

 

[Solomon2]

the hijacker pilot is from Oman (ynetnews)

'We need help': Israeli passengers recount fight to stop Flydubai crash after suspected hijacking​

Bloodied passengers describe storming cockpit to subdue Omani co-pilot suspected of trying to crash Israel-bound jet; captain wounded, both pilots hospitalized in Saudi Arabia​

Roy Rubinstein, Itamar Eichner, Elisha Ben Kimon|06:56

An Israeli passenger who helped subdue a suspected attacker aboard a Flydubai flight bound for Israel described the dramatic struggle in a video posted to social media Wednesday, as Israeli security officials continued investigating what they believe was an attempted terrorist attack in which the co-pilot allegedly tried to crash the aircraft.
The passenger, his face bloodied, recorded himself while the aircraft was still in the air and preparing for an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

Passenger who helped subdue the suspected attacker aboard the Flydubai flight recounts the struggle while still in the air



Injured pilot receives treatment near the cockpit after the confrontation aboard the Flydubai flight
(Video: from social media)

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“We are in the middle of a plane hijacking,” he said. “At the moment, we have subdued the terrorists and we are preparing to land. Anyone who can hear me, we need help. We are landing in Tabuk, apparently somewhere in Saudi Arabia, an unfamiliar and unknown area.”

“Everyone on the plane is safe and well except for the pilot. We need help,” he added.

Other footage from aboard the aircraft showed the injured pilots receiving medical treatment near the cockpit.

Zvika Manes, CEO of Bank Leumi underwriting company Barak Capital Underwriting, was among the passengers who helped subdue the alleged attacker, according to ynet's sister publication Calcalist.

Manes confirmed his involvement to the financial newspaper, describing the incident as extraordinarily traumatic.


Gallery

Aircraft’s tail damaged during rapid descent
(Photo: Rotter.net)

“My wife was standing near the cockpit because my daughter was in the bathroom. Suddenly, she heard screams coming from the cockpit,” Manes said. “She shouted to a relief pilot from Fiji who was sitting there, ‘Get in quickly, see what’s happening.’ He called for help, and two others and I entered the cockpit and subdued the terrorist. I’m covered in blood. It was insane.”

Another passenger described the struggle in a video posted to social media while the aircraft was still airborne.

“We’re on the flight from Dubai. We took control of the situation here. There was an attacker with a knife who stabbed one of the pilots,” he said. “A few of us just jumped in and pulled him out of the cockpit. Everything is OK now. We’re apparently landing in Saudi Arabia.”

He said one pilot was seriously wounded and another appeared to have been injured but remained capable of landing the aircraft.

“The terrorist has been neutralized,” he said. “There is a pilot here who is seriously wounded and apparently another pilot inside who is injured, but he is managing to land the plane. There are two crew members inside the cockpit. We made sure they locked the door.”

One of the passengers who helped subdue the attacker
(Photo: from social media)

“I love you, and everything is OK,” he added.

Israeli security agencies continued Wednesday to investigate the events aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073, which was carrying 174 passengers, including 27 children, to Ben Gurion Airport.

According to the emerging Israeli assessment, the co-pilot suspected of trying to crash the aircraft in what authorities believe was an attempted terrorist attack is an Omani national. The captain, an Indian national, fought with him in an effort to prevent the aircraft from crashing, according to Israeli officials.

Officials at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia, where the aircraft landed after the incident, said both pilots were hospitalized and receiving treatment.

Minute by minute​

The flight took off from Dubai at 6:05 a.m. for what was expected to be a routine journey of about three hours and 15 minutes. At 8:21 a.m., the aircraft began making unusual altitude movements, losing more than 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds.
At 8:31 a.m., the aircraft briefly transmitted squawk code 7700, the international transponder code for a general emergency. Seven minutes later, at 8:38 a.m., code 7500 was activated, signaling unlawful interference with an aircraft and commonly associated with a hijacking.

Two Israeli Air Force fighter jets were scrambled as the IDF sought to determine what was happening aboard the plane. Senior military officials held situation assessments, including IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the Air Force commander and the heads of the Operations and Military Intelligence directorates.

At 9:20 a.m., Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz convened an urgent security consultation. At 9:35 a.m., Israeli authorities received a report that the aircraft was heading for an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia accompanied by fighter jets.

Ten minutes later, at 9:45 a.m., the aircraft landed at Tabuk airport. Israeli authorities then began preparations to bring the passengers home while security agencies launched a more extensive investigation. Passenger accounts began emerging describing large amounts of blood inside the cockpit.

The Mossad is now handling Israel’s coordination with Saudi Arabia over the incident, while Israeli authorities work to obtain the necessary approvals for an IDF aircraft to be dispatched.

Flydubai officially confirmed that the distress signal was triggered by a violent incident aboard the aircraft involving the pilots. The airline opened an investigation and notified Israeli authorities.

Flight-tracking data from Flightradar24 documented the aircraft’s extraordinary descent, showing it dropping rapidly from about 34,000 feet to 14,000 feet. At one point, the service displayed an instantaneous descent rate of about 30,976 feet per minute.

 

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What we do and don't know so far​

BBC

What we know:

• Flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv was diverted to Saudi Arabia around two hours after take-off on Wednesday (see map below)
• An emergency signal - and later a hijacking warning - was set off shortly after an abrupt change of direction and rapid descent. The plane dropped 17,000 feet (5,200m) in just two minutes
• All passengers are safe and accounted for, according to airline Flydubai
• Following a distress call to air traffic control, the flight had an emergency landing at Tabuk airport at 08:44 local time
• The captain of the aircraft and first officer have been taken to hospital, the company that owns the airport says
• Passengers report that a pilot was stabbed in the cockpit. One passenger says two pilots at the back of the plane came forward to help land the plane - this has not been confirmed

And what we don't know:

• The motive of the apparent attack, and the extent of the injuries suffered by the captain and first officer
• The names or nationalities of anyone involved, including the pilots who suffered injuries, and those who landed the plane
• Witnesses describe seeing blood and a knife - but we do not know who attacked whom, or the exact weapon
• We are yet to receive official statements from police, emergency services, or investigators

 

[retaxis]

Omani man just wanted payback for israeli genocide