Flight to Israel descends into chaos after Omani and Emirati co-pilots reportedly get into knife fight in cockpit

A Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, Israel descended into chaos earlier this morning, resulting in fears that a hijacking was underway. As per Sky News, the plane first transmitted the general emergency code, then followed that up with the code for unlawful interference and possibly hijacking.

The emergency codes triggered a major response. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly held an urgent meeting, while Israeli fighter jets were scrambled to intercept the plane. Flight shows the jet – a Boeing 737 MAX – then executed a terrifying series of maneuvers. CNN reports that it dropped 17,400 feet in two minutes and pulled a sudden U-turn.

Mercifully, the flight soon landed safely at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Airport in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, with all on board alive. Flydubai has only said the plane “experienced an incident while en route” and “Our teams are working closely with the relevant authorities. … Further updates will be issued as additional confirmed details become available.”

A bizarre story is emerging

Initial suspicions were that this was a terrorist incident. However, an Israeli official has confirmed (via Reuters) that the drama was the result of the two co-pilots getting into a violent physical confrontation with one another. The Guardian reports that passengers told reporters they heard “shouts” from the front of the plane from those who heard an “altercation” between the pilots.

The precise details of what went down are unknown, but Israel’s Channel 14 news has reported that one of the co-pilots was Omani and the other Emirati, and one pilot repeatedly stabbed the other and tried to crash the plane, but was subdued by either the other pilot, or by crew and passengers:

Another report on X claims to have an account from one of the passengers who has given an interview to Israeli media. He claims that, “One of the crew members stabbed the pilot and disabled the aircraft’s systems” and that two passengers “rushed into the cockpit & subdued him. Fortunately, there were two other pilots on board who managed to land the plane.” That story was backed up by photographs of a bloodied passenger, said to have been taken on board soon after the incident.

This is a developing story and the precise details of what went down are currently unclear. However, Netanyahu’s office has confirmed that the incident is over and that the passengers are safe and being flown to Israel. The status of the two pilots is unclear.