Passengers Recount Harrowing Mid-Air Attack on Tel Aviv Flight
A mid-air altercation aboard a FlyDubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv resulted in a pilot being stabbed and the aircraft being diverted to Saudi Arabia, where passengers later returned to Israel.
Passengers aboard FlyDubai Flight 1073 described a terrifying ordeal that unfolded thousands of feet in the air on Wednesday, which Israeli officials are investigating as an attempted terror attack. The flight, en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv, was diverted to Saudi Arabia after an incident in the cockpit.
According to Israeli officials, the plane's first officer allegedly stabbed the captain and initiated a rapid descent. Passengers reported hearing screams from the cockpit and experiencing a dramatic drop in altitude.
"It was...like chaos screaming and just the crazy drop. Like you look at the ground and you're like, 'OK, I'm going that way right now,'" Mika Bauman, a passenger, told ABC News. Another passenger, who identified herself as Miram, described seeing the bloody pilot and fearing a crash.
Some passengers intervened, reportedly working together to subdue the suspect, while another flight crew member regained control of the aircraft. "We jumped and helped the pilot," passenger Itzhak Liber said in a video posted online after the incident. "Friends, everything is OK now."
The diversion to Saudi Arabia allowed the injured pilot to receive medical attention. The suspect, whose identity has not been released, was taken into custody. An investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Later on Wednesday, the passengers were repatriated to Tel Aviv, where they arrived to a welcome from family and friends. "I'm honestly just thanking God that I'm here right now because it was so close to not happening based on the whole situation that we were just in," Bauman said after landing. She added that it might take some time before she feels comfortable flying again.