Pilot Stabbed Co-Pilot, Tried to Crash Plane Bound for Tel Aviv
The aircraft made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after the incident, prompting Israel to scramble warplanes.
A pilot stabbed the other pilot aboard a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday and then appeared to attempt to crash the aircraft, before passengers and crew subdued him. The Boeing 737 made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, where the unnamed pilot was detained.
Israel scrambled warplanes following the incident due to concerns of a possible hijacking. The flight was en route from Dubai to the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.
This event is the latest in a string of hijacking attempts and incidents involving pilots or crew members. In October 2023, an off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot attempted to cut the engines of a Horizon Air jet during a flight from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco. He was later subdued and the plane diverted to Portland, Oregon. The pilot told police he was struggling with personal issues and had used psychedelic mushrooms.
In March 2022, a China Eastern Airlines flight from Kunming to Guangzhou crashed into a mountain, killing all 132 people aboard. While Chinese authorities have not released a final report, data from American investigators suggests a cockpit struggle and deliberate engine shutdown prior to the plane's nose-dive.
In 2015, the co-pilot of a Germanwings jet deliberately crashed the plane into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board. He had a history of depression and struggled with sleeplessness. That same year, the co-pilot of an Ethiopian Airlines flight hijacked his own plane and rerouted it to Geneva, where he surrendered and sought political asylum.
Other incidents include a Mozambique Airlines pilot deliberately crashing a plane in 2013, killing 33 people, and an EgyptAir flight crashing into the Atlantic Ocean in 1999, which investigators concluded was caused by the co-pilot deliberately setting the plane on a course to crash. A SilkAir flight in 1997 also crashed, with investigators citing "unlawful interference" and noting the pilot may have intended to leave the cockpit.
Additionally, a Royal Air Maroc flight crashed into the Atlas Mountains in 2001 after the pilot switched off the autopilot and deliberately crashed the plane. In 1994, an off-duty FedEx flight engineer attempted to hijack a cargo plane, but the crew subdued him. In 1982, a Japan Airlines flight crashed in Tokyo Bay following a fight in the cockpit, with the pilot having a history of mental illness.