A clash in the cockpit of an airliner flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv Wednesday morning prompted Israel and Saudi Arabia to scramble fighter jets in fear of a hijacking, officials said.
Passengers described to Israeli news outlets a terrifying melee that left one crew member bleeding from a stab wound and ended with his attacker subdued by passengers. The plane landed safely at a civil-military airport in Tabuk, in northwestern Saudi Arabia.
The flight, FlyDubai Flight 1073, sent distress signals and abruptly reversed course near the Saudi-Jordanian border about two hours and fifteen minutes into its trip.
Officials of three Israeli government agencies said it appeared that the pilot and co-pilot had gotten into a fight and one of them sent the distress signal. They spoke on condition of anonymity to divulge what they knew about the incident so far.
Flightradar24, a flight tracking service, reported that the plane had sent a general emergency signal, then a signal of unlawful interference, and then a general emergency signal again.
The Israeli military’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, met with top air force, intelligence and operations officials, the military said.
The plane, a Boeing 737 Max 8, was flying a daily route between the United Arab Emirates and Israel. Israeli officials said it had between 160 and 180 passengers on board. It was due to arrive at Ben-Gurion International Airport at 9:10 a.m. local time, according to the airport’s flight board.
Flight tracking websites showed that the plane was cruising at an altitude of 34,000 feet when it suddenly descended to 15,000 feet in just 12 minutes before leveling off.
The Israeli air force scrambled fighter jets, the military said, but they turned back before entering Saudi Arabian airspace. The Saudi air force also dispatched a fighter jet to investigate, an Israeli official said.
“The situation is under control, and all measures are now being taken to bring the Israeli passengers back to Israel safely,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
FlyDubai was sending another plane to Tabuk to pick up the passengers and complete their trip to Tel Aviv, an Israeli official said.
The airline said in a statement that the flight “experienced an incident while en route,” adding that all passengers were “safe and accounted for” and that it was “working closely with the relevant authorities.”
