TEL AVIV.– FlyDubai flight FZ1073, carrying nearly 180 passengers from Dubai to Tel Aviv, ended up making an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after a violent episode inside the cockpit. While several passengers struggled with the man who had attacked one of the pilots, the plane was losing altitude, and two additional pilots traveling on board appeared paralyzed by the situation. An Israeli passenger who took part in those minutes of chaos told The Jerusalem Post how he managed to snap them into action so they would take control of the aircraft, and how, together with other travelers, they improvised a way to restrain the attacker.
"I had to shake them [the backup pilots] to get them to move forward and take control of the plane, because it was falling," said the man, whose identity was protected by the Israeli newspaper.
The passenger communicated for several hours via WhatsApp with journalist Zvika Klein while he was still in Saudi Arabia, where FlyDubai flight FZ1073, traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, had made an emergency landing. According to his account, the incident began when one of the pilots attacked the other with a small knife and stabbed him several times. The attacker was trying to force the wounded pilot out of the cockpit, apparently to remain alone in command of the aircraft. That was when Israeli passengers seated near the front of the plane ran toward the cockpit and joined the struggle, the interviewee said.
A Flydubai plane made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after an incident between the pilots. Networks
The man clarified to The Jerusalem Post that he had not been one of those who physically fought the attacker. His task, he said, was to get two other Flydubai pilots who were traveling on the plane to reach the cockpit, and to find something that could be used to restrain the attacker. According to his reconstruction, the passengers managed to pull the attacker out and allow the other pilots to enter. One of them took control of the plane, while the second needed more time to react to the shock of the situation. The passenger said that both worked for FlyDubai and that, as he understood it, they had been assigned to travel on that flight. The presence of four pilots on board was not linked to any prior security alert. According to The Jerusalem Post, the two additional pilots had been assigned to the flight in case possible route diversions due to the regional situation prolonged the trip and led the original crew to exceed permitted duty-hour limits.
While the plane was still in a critical situation, the passengers needed to find a way to hold down the attacker. The solution was improvised.
"What did you use?" the journalist asked.
"Charger cables," the passenger replied. And he added, with humor: "In the desert, every thorn is a flower."
The interviewee also said that an Israeli dentist traveling on the plane began treating the wounded pilot. According to his account, the man was seriously injured and the professional's intervention was decisive, although the newspaper noted that it could not independently confirm the pilot's medical condition either.
Flydubai's statement after the incident involving a plane this Wednesday. https://news.flydubai.com/
During the conversation, the passenger repeatedly referred to the attacker as a "terrorist" and expressed his anger at doubts about that characterization. However, when the journalist asked him about a version circulating regarding an alleged shout of "Allahu akbar" (God is great, in Arabic), the man was categorical.
"I was standing right next to the cockpit and I didn't hear it, and the others who were with me didn't hear it either," he said. "None of us heard it."
The motive for the attack remained unconfirmed. After the landing in Tabuk, in northwestern Saudi Arabia, Saudi doctors treated children and passengers suffering panic attacks, and the authorities provided food to the travelers, according to the interviewee.
The passenger also highlighted the treatment they received. When the journalist asked him how the Saudis had behaved, he replied: "Very kind. Very understanding."
Blood stains on the shirt of one of the passengers who reacted when the plane began to plummet. Networks
He said that during the emergency he acted almost automatically, focused on helping, and thought he would only finish processing what had happened when he returned to Israel. Then he remembered the children traveling on the plane.
"There were terrible screams from children who didn't want to die," he recounted. One of the men who had taken part in the confrontation with the attacker was traveling with his daughter. "A girl whose father was fighting the terrorist was screaming that she didn't want him to die," the passenger said. "That was the only moment when I stopped and thought about my own children."
IsraelSaudi Arabia