San Francisco Frontiers - Passenger on rerouted flydubai flight says pilot tried to crash plane

In the first comment by an official, Israel's far-right national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir alleged an attempted "terrorist" attack in the incident, in which none of the passengers reported injuries.

The flydubai plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia's Tabuk "at 9:45 am (0645 GMT) and its captain and copilot were found to have injuries and were transported to hospital", a statement from the company operating the airport said.

The low-cost carrier had earlier said flight FZ 1073 "experienced an incident while en route. The aircraft has landed safely in Tabuk Airport (TUU) and all passengers are safe and accounted for".

According to data from the Flightradar website, the aircraft suddenly lost altitude during the flight, dropping from nearly 34,000 feet at 0521 GMT to less than 17,000 feet at 0522 GMT.

Passenger Miryam Shira Ohayon said the plane was "pretty much out of control" when one of the pilots tried to stab the other while they were flying over Jordan en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv.

"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 near Tel Aviv.

"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.

"There was also a doctor who gave first aid, and people who treated both of them. Other than the pilot, there were no injuries, but the bigger fear was really a crash, which is exactly what he was trying to do."

Several Israeli media reported that a fight had broken out between the plane's pilots, reportedly causing a distress signal to be activated.

Israeli media also reported that two other pilots were flying on the plane as passengers, and that they had taken over the controls to carry out the emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

At Ben Gurion airport, families gathered to await the return of their loved ones.

Earlier, Yasmin Abukasis, Ohayon's mother, told AFP her daughter called her from Saudi Arabia: "She said one pilot tried to kill the other pilot with a knife. They heard shouting".

Another passenger went to the cockpit "and saw a lot of blood. She started screaming 'come help' and some people went in and caught the guy", she added.

- 'Going down very fast' -

"All the while, the plane started going down very fast. People thought they were going to die."

She added that two other pilots in the back later took over the controls.

Neither the airline nor authorities of the countries involved provided details on what happened on board or on the pilots' nationalities, but some Israeli media said one was Omani and the other Emirati.

Israel's Kan public broadcaster and Channel 12 reported that the Israeli military had scrambled fighter jets after fears of a possible hijacking.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the premier had held consultations on the matter and was "monitoring developments".

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it was "checking" the reports.

Meir Zohar, the father of passenger Ido Zohar, told AFP his son had told him by text message that he was well, but that he had no other news.

"We heard on the news what happened in the sky of Abu Dhabi," he said.

"He told us that everything is okay, he didn't tell me that much."

- Bloodied T-shirt -

Israeli media, citing anonymous sources, reported that the passengers on board had stepped in to separate the two pilots during their altercation, publishing photos of a passenger with a bloodied T-shirt.

Channel 12 reported that authorities were investigating whether or not one of the pilots had attempted a possible suicide by trying to crash the plane, with the other pilot apparently intervening to prevent the crash.

An AFP correspondent in Tabuk, where the plane landed, saw heavy security near the airport, with several police vehicles and an ambulance parked at the terminal.

Access to the terminal remained open.

In photos sent to AFP by one of the passengers, travellers, including children, are seen gathered in an airport lounge, with some sitting on the floor, while one man is wearing a white T-shirt and jeans stained with blood.

The incident comes as tensions are high across the Middle East, amid the regional war that erupted in late February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

It also comes just ahead of close-fought Israeli elections due to be held at the end of October.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu said there were "indications" that Israel's enemies could try to attack ahead of elections, and was accused of "fear-mongering" by the opposition chief.

N.Wilson--SFF