\n<\/p>\n
JERUSALEM, Sept 30: The co-pilot of a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv tried to crash the plane after stabbing the pilot, but \u200bpassengers subdued him while other pilots landed the plane safely in Saudi Arabia, Israeli officials claimed on Wednesday.<\/strong><\/p>\n Describing the event as \u201ca highly severe security incident\u201d, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saudi authorities \u200cwould interrogate the co-pilot of flydubai flight FZ1073 from the United Arab Emirates to Israel, which had more than 170 Israelis on board.<\/p>\n The airline said in a statement that the underlying reasons for the event remained unknown and warned against \u201cpremature speculation\u201d. The cause of the altercation between the pilots was not clear.<\/p>\n The co-pilot, who an Israeli official identified as an Omani national, was arrested after the plane landed, Netanyahu said. Israel\u2019s Transport Ministry said there would be a joint investigation of the incident with \u200bthe defence establishment.<\/p>\n \u201cAll passengers are out of harm\u2019s way,\u201d Netanyahu said in a video statement released by his office. He also ordered tighter security on both Israeli and non-Israeli carriers flying into \u200bIsrael.<\/p>\n The passengers departed Saudi Arabia for Israel aboard a flydubai replacement aircraft after eight hours on the ground. The aircraft\u2019s flight data showed it suddenly and rapidly descended by nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds before a first emergency signal was sent on Wednesday morning, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24.<\/p>\n The incident heightened security \u200bfears in Israel weeks before Israelis vote in the first \u2060election since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks, with Israel\u2019s security figuring prominently in the campaigning.<\/p>\n Israeli media published conflicting reports on the incident, with some outlets reporting that a pilot had \u200btried to crash the passenger plane in an alleged suicide attempt. Some Israeli media outlets identified the pilots as Omani and Emirati nationals, while others \u200bsaid they were Russian and \u2060Ukrainian.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Netanyahu quoted a passenger as saying that passengers \u2060along with a member of the crew broke into the cockpit after the aircraft \u201centered a tailspin and began to dive\u201d and found the co-pilot \u201ctrying to sabotage the plane\u2019s systems\u201d.<\/p>\n