Reuters. Passengers on a flydubai flight reached Israel safely on Wednesday (September 30) after customers and crew foiled a co-pilot's attempt to crash the aircraft, Israeli officials said, in a struggle that began when he stabbed the pilot and sent the jet plunging nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds.
Passengers and crew entered the cockpit, overpowered the co-pilot and enabled a second pair of flydubai pilots who were aboard the flight to land the jet safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Israeli officials said.
More than 10 hours later, the passengers arrived at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport aboard a flydubai replacement aircraft, with several describing the episode as a miracle and recounting a frantic struggle to prevent a catastrophe.
Passenger Almog Italie said the aircraft "was dropping very, very sharply" before passengers saw a crowd gathering near the cockpit and the plane later landed in Saudi Arabia.
Magen David Adom paramedic Aryeh Myers said one passenger, possibly aged about 50, was taken to hospital with a chest injury after arriving in Israel.
Describing the event as "a highly severe security incident," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saudi authorities would interrogate the co-pilot.
The airline said in a statement that the underlying reasons for the event remained unknown and warned against "premature speculation." The cause of the altercation between the pilots was not clear.
The co-pilot, who an Israeli official identified as an Omani national, was arrested after the plane landed, Netanyahu said. Israel's Transport Ministry said there would be a joint investigation of the incident with the defence establishment.
