Flydubai says reason for mid-air altercation is “unknown”

UAE based airliner Flydubai on Wednesday said the reasons for an altercation that "occurred in the flight deck of flight FZ 1073" remained unknown and were under formal investigation, according to a spokesperson.

"At this early stage, the underlying reasons and motives behind this event are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation. We urge all parties to refrain from premature speculation while authorities gather the facts," a flydubai spokesperson said in a statement.

‘Israel's’ leader credited the Indian pilot of a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight, as well as the aircraft's passengers, with averting catastrophe Wednesday after the man was attacked by his co-pilot, sparking a fight for control of the aircraft and forcing an emergency landing.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the co-pilot of the flydubai jet had been trying to crash it and kill all its passengers, with ‘Israel's’ foreign ministry denouncing the incident as "an attempted terrorist attack" aimed at damaging the relationship with the UAE.

Passengers gave a similar account of the incident, describing rushing the cockpit after the plane suddenly plummeted, losing around 17,000 feet of altitude in the span of a minute, according to the Flightradar24 website.

Flydubai said all the passengers -- of whom 166 out of 174 were ‘Israeli’, according to media reports -- were safe, adding that the reasons for the altercation were unknown.

AFPTV images later showed another flydubai plane carrying the passengers touch down at Tel Aviv airport, hours after their initial flight was diverted to Saudi Arabia's Tabuk.

"During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board," Netanyahu said in a video message.

"I salute these heroes," he said of the passengers, adding "they prevented a major disaster".

He later hailed the pilot who was wounded -- identified as Indian national Smit Machchhar -- "for his extraordinary bravery", praising him for fighting back despite being wounded and "preventing a catastrophic mid-air disaster".

The Indian embassy said Machchhar was being treated at a Saudi hospital, while the company operating the airport in Tabuk said the co-pilot was also found to be injured upon landing.

Footage shared by the premier's office on Wednesday evening showed Netanyahu meeting the passengers of the flight at Tel Aviv airport and embracing a man in a bloodied shirt.

"Is that from him (the assailant)?" the premier asks, pointing at the stains, as the man replies in the affirmative.

“Out of control”

Passenger Miryam Shira Ohayon said the plane was "pretty much out of control" as the incident unfolded.

"So the co-pilot tried to murder the pilot and basically carry out a suicide attack on the plane," she told reporters by speakerphone held up by her mother, who was waiting at Ben Gurion Airport.

"It was really on the way to crashing, and it was simply the resourcefulness of many people who took control of the co-pilot and neutralised him," she said.

The airline later said it was another "on-duty flydubai crew travelling on the flight, who diverted and landed the aircraft safely".

The director general of Israel's foreign ministry called it "an attempted terrorist attack against Israelis, the United Arab Emirates, and the Abraham Accords", referring to the peace deal signed by the two in 2020.