🔎 Aircraft incident and investigation: A flydubai aircraft landed at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia after the co-pilot reportedly stabbed the captain repeatedly. Following situation assessments and passenger testimonies, Israeli authorities are treating the incident as a terrorist attack.
Channel 12’s Yaron Avraham reported that the aircraft began to dive. Crew members and passengers broke through the cockpit door and subdued the attacker. An additional crew of pilots, aboard as part of a training exercise according to a senior Israeli official, intervened and took control of the aircraft. The official credited their presence with averting an event reminiscent of September 2001 or July 1976.
A senior Israeli official told Channel 12 that the co-pilot was being questioned and that there were growing indications he intended to seize control and crash the aircraft with its passengers aboard. Avraham described an attempted 9/11-inspired attack involving either hijacking the plane “to the ground” or crashing it. Authorities are investigating whether the suspect is from a Gulf state; Israeli media report that he is of Omani origin.
Graphic footage from aboard the aircraft shows the stabbed pilot inside the cockpit. Channel 12’s Amit Segal reported that Israelis saved 180 people while the pilot was on a ventilator and the aircraft had no functioning steering system. The rear wing was reportedly damaged, with a wing described as broken. The aircraft also appeared to have sustained rudder damage, likely caused by its rapid plunge.
🛫 Passenger rescue and flight disruptions: El Al offered to dispatch a rescue flight to Saudi Arabia, which would be the first such flight in the airline’s history. Channel 12 reported that Israel instead appeared set to send an Israeli Air Force aircraft. A flydubai aircraft has departed Dubai for Saudi Arabia to transport stranded passengers, according to the Israeli Broadcasting Authority.
Air traffic at Riyadh Airport has been suspended. Channel 12 also reported that another flydubai flight, traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, was turning back to Dubai mid-flight.
🚗 Netanyahu’s movements: Netanyahu’s motorcade turned around while heading south for another security meeting in central Israel.
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