Flydubai incident: Too early to know motive, says Netanyahu

A dramatic mid-air incident unfolded on Flydubai flight FZ1073 after the aircraft departed from Dubai International Airport in the UAE, bound for Ben-Gurion Airport in Israel. The flight carried 174 passengers and crew members, nearly all of whom were Israeli citizens, embarking on the journey across the region.

Roughly two and a half hours into the flight, data from tracking service Flightradar24 showed the aircraft making a steep and rapid descent over Saudi Arabia, plunging more than 17,000 feet or over 5,000 meters in less than two minutes. Moments later, the plane squawked emergency code 7700 before switching to 7500 to signal a hijacking, eventually looping back to land manually in Tabuk, northwestern Saudi Arabia.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that one of the pilots had stabbed the other and apparently attempted to crash the plane. Despite suffering serious injuries, the captain fought back, opened the cockpit door, and allowed passengers and crew to subdue the attacker, preventing a catastrophic mid-air disaster.

"In the face of the gravest danger and despite being seriously injured, he showed immense courage and an unwavering resolve to protect the lives of others."

Narendra Modi

Passenger Yaniv Hayun recounted to the Israeli prime minister how he placed the attacker in a chokehold while other travelers helped pin him down as the man tried to disable the aircraft controls. Hayun mentioned that he briefly pulled the controls to stabilize the plane before another pilot took over. Another passenger, Zvika Meness, told broadcaster Kan News that passengers tied the attacker up using his own zip ties and multimedia headphones.