A plane bound for Israel was forced to make an emergency landing after a suspected hijacking attempt on Wednesday, during which the pilot was reportedly stabbed. Passengers on the FlyDubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv reported that one of the pilots attempted to crash the plane, before they were overpowered. A passenger onboard the flight told Israeli media: "We understood that they had stabbed the pilot, and the plane just started to plunge...
The plane dropped, and it was very frightening. There are people here with shirts full of blood." Video on social media showed both pilots covered in blood, with one wearing an oxygen mask. The plane plummeted around 17,400 feet in less than two minutes, according to flight tracking data.
Two other pilots onboard the plane are believed to have then entered the cockpit and landed the flight safely at Tabuk Airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia. Images of the FlyDubai plane after it landed at Tabuk airport appear to show that it sustained damage during the emergency incident. A section of the vertical stabilizer appears to be missing, according to images on social media.
Arik Zer, a former Shin Bet head of flight security, said that the rapid plunge of the aircraft likely caused the damage. Flight trackers said the plane took off from Dubai shortly after 3 a.m. UTC on Wednesday (11 p.m.
Just over two hours later, the plane's altitude started to fluctuate and quickly dropped by more than 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds, according to Flightradar24. Roughly 10 minutes after the aircraft's altitude initially changed, the pilots sent out a 7700 squawk. This was quickly followed by a 7500 squawk, tracking information shows.
This typically refers to "unlawful interference," and can sometimes be used to warn of a hijacking situation. The plane was recorded landing at Tabuk at roughly 6:45 a.m.
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