Flydubai pilot accused of stabbing colleague mid-flight, aircraft diverted to Tabuk

A Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv diverted to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after an attack inside the cockpit, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. In a video message, Netanyahu said one pilot stabbed the other, and that everything pointed to an attempt to bring the aircraft down with its passengers aboard.

The plane, a Boeing 737 Max 8 registered A6-FKF, was operating flight FZ1073. It descended from about 10,400 metres to roughly 5,200 metres in less than a minute, then turned around and landed at Tabuk.

Netanyahu said he spoke to an Israeli passenger, who told him he got into the cockpit with a crew member and together they stopped the pilot from damaging the aircraft systems. Another crew member then reached the cockpit and stabilised the plane, according to the prime minister. Saudi authorities are questioning the attacker.

Photographs taken after the landing showed damage to the aircraft's rudder. A former head of flight security at Israel's Shin Bet domestic intelligence service told Channel 12 the rapid descent could be an explanation, though this was an assessment rather than confirmed fact.

All passengers remained uninjured, the sources state. How those who intervened were able to enter the cockpit remains unclear. According to the Times of Israel, additional pilots were on board, which the sources describe as fortunate given the circumstances.