A flydubai flight from the United Arab Emirates to Israel diverted to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after issuing a distress signal, prompting initial fears of a hijacking and the dispatch of Israeli fighter jets.
An Israeli official told Haaretz that authorities are treating the event as a terror incident and believe that one of the pilots may have purposefully attempted to crash the plane. Other scenarios are being considered. According to an Israeli source, the pilot suspected of the act is of Omani origin – a country with which Israel does not have diplomatic relations – while the co-pilot is reportedly from India.
Flydubai confirmed an incident had occurred on the flight, saying in a statement that the aircraft had landed safely and all passengers were safe. A spokesperson for the flight company said the motives for the altercation are still under investigation.
An additional flydubai aircraft evacuating the Israeli passengers from the UAE has taken off from Tabuk and is expected to land in Ben Gurion Airport in Israel around 6:30 P.M.
According to a source familiar with the matter, Saudi Arabia did not agree to an Israeli military aircraft landing in its territory to carry out the rescue.
At 8:22 A.M., while over Saudi Arabia and about an hour before its scheduled arrival in Israel, the aircraft suddenly began a steep descent. Flight data recorded by several tracking sites showed it dropping from 34,000 feet to 16,000 feet in less than two minutes, a rate of about 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) per minute.
The aircraft then activated a general distress code, followed several minutes later by a hijacking code. It flew toward Jordan and crossed into the country before turning back toward Saudi Arabia.
According to Saudi state television, authorities at the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk, northwest Saudi Arabia, received a distress call requesting an emergency landing.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz held consultations on the matter.
In a statement, Netanyhau's office said the incident was under control, "and all necessary measures are now being taken to safely return the Israeli passengers to Israel."
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said a security briefing he received from Netanyahu late Tuesday did not mention any warning of a threat like the one involving the flydubai flight. Netanyahu briefed Lapid after saying he had received a warning of an imminent attack on Israel ahead of the election.
In a statement, Lapid said that those claiming otherwise were "trying to play cheap politics at the expense of Israel's security."
Passengers on the flight said the pilots had lost control of the plane before other passengers broke into the cockpit and intervened.
Dalia Shpigel told Haaretz that passengers seated toward the front of the plane broke into the cockpit after realizing something was wrong.
"An hour before landing, we felt that there was no control over the plane, that it was starting to jump," she said. "The guys saw that the plane had begun to dive and broke into the cockpit."
Speaking to Israel's Channel 12 News, two women said they believed one of the pilots had been stabbed. "People started screaming. Then the plane began moving from side to side. We understood that the pilots had lost control because one of them had been stabbed."
Almog, who spoke to Haaretz after deplaning in Saudi Arabia, said Saudi authorities were going "above and beyond" and had provided lunch to passengers. He said passengers had yet to receive an update on how they would return to Israel. "All options are on the table," he said.
