Hijacking alert – pilot suspected

 

Jenny Martorell

Mariela Quintana Melin

 

Published 08:44 | Updated 12:34

 

Another Flydubai plane. Photo: Markus Mainka/Alamy Stock Photo

Fighter jets scrambled following a hijacking alert on a flight bound for Tel Aviv.

It turned out to be a fight between the pilots.

One of them is now being investigated for terrorism, according to reports.

A Flydubai passenger plane, en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv, Israel, issued an emergency signal and changed course on Wednesday morning.

Shortly thereafter, "Code 7500"—indicating a hijacking or unlawful interference—was transmitted, according to *The Times of Israel*. The flight subsequently disappeared from flight-tracking websites.

Fighter jets from both Israel and Saudi Arabia scrambled toward the passenger plane. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a crisis meeting with Defense Minister Israel Katz.

"We saw blood"

By 09:15 (Swedish time), the plane had landed safely in Saudi Arabia.

It then emerged that the emergency alert had been issued due to a "violent incident" between the pilots, sources told several Israeli media outlets and CNN.

A source told *The Jerusalem Post* that one of the pilots is suspected of attempting to take control of the plane with the intention of crashing it. The aircraft reportedly dropped about 4,000 meters during the altercation.

There are also reports that a knife was used. "We heard screaming on the plane. Then they opened the cockpit and we saw blood, and someone had stabbed the pilot with a pocketknife," one of the passengers wrote in a text message to Channel 12.

Terror investigation

Initially, the German newspaper *Bild* and Israel's Channel 12 reported that the captain was from Russia and the co-pilot from Ukraine.

Later, however, reports emerged stating that they were from Oman and the United Arab Emirates. The incident is being investigated as an attempted terrorist attack, according to Channel 12 and Ynet.

A passenger named Meital told *The Times of Israel* that the individual was overpowered by passengers:

"Someone shouted 'stabbing,' and my husband immediately understood what was happening and rushed forward; together with other Israelis, they neutralized the terrorist," she said.

There were reportedly 174 passengers, including 27 children, on board the plane.