flydubai passengers recount screams, blood in cockpit before emergency landing in Saudi Arabia

Passengers aboard a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv recounted scenes of panic including screams blood in the cockpit and a sudden dive after the aircraft made an emergency landing at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday Israeli passengers reportedly helped crew members restrain an attacker during the incident The Times of Israel reportedA passenger told Israeli media that those on board heard screams before the cockpit was opened revealing blood inside news agency ANI reportedldquoWe heard screams on the plane Then they opened the cockpit and we saw blood and someone had stabbed the pilot with a pocketkniferdquo the unnamed woman told the network via text message according to The Times of IsraelShe said Israeli passengers helped members of the crew restrain the attackerldquoWe prayed lsquoShema Yisraelrsquordquo she said ldquoThere were also moments when we thought we werenrsquot going to make it out aliverdquoAnother passenger who identified herself as Noam told Channel 12 that passengers realised something was wrong after hearing screamsldquoScreams began on the plane by passengers who realized what was happening We understand that one of the pilots was stabbed and seriously wounded and they lost control of the plane It started to dive quickly It was very scaryrdquo she saidThe Times of Israel reported that little official information was immediately available while Israeli officials said an emergency signal appeared to have been issued after a fight apparently broke out between the pilots The exact circumstances had not been confirmed by flydubai at the timeEarlier unconfirmed reports in Hebrew media based on passenger testimonies said one pilot had attempted to crash the aircraft and was stopped by the second pilot with the help of passengers The reports remained unconfirmed and could not be independently verifiedflydubai flight transmits emergency and hijacking codesFlight FZ1073 carrying a reported 180 passengers including dozens of Israelis initially transmitted squawk code 7700 an international emergency signal before briefly transmitting code 7500 which indicates hijacking or unlawful interference while flying over Saudi Arabia according to The Times of IsraelIsraeli Air Force fighter jets were scrambled to intercept the aircraft amid fears of a hijacking after Israeli authorities were unable to establish contact with the planeThe aircraft later made contact and landed safely at Tabuk Airport in Saudi ArabiaThe Times of Israel reported that publicly available flight data showed the Boeing 737 MAX had made a sharp descent during the flight dropping from around 34000 feet to approximately 17000 feet in under a minute The aircraft subsequently recovered partially before descending again and later continued at around 15000 feetNetanyahu monitors developments after aviation incidentThe Prime Ministers Office said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held consultations following concerns over the aviation incident and was monitoring developmentsIn a post on X the Israeli Prime Ministers Office said ldquoFollowing concerns over an aviation incident Prime Minister Netanyahu held consultations on the matter and is monitoring developmentsrdquoldquoThe incident is under control and all measures are currently being deployed in order to return the Israeli passengers safely to Israelrdquo it addedflydubai confirms incident says passengers safeMeanwhile flydubai confirmed that the aircraft had experienced an incident while en route from Dubai to Tel Avivldquoflydubai can confirm that flight FZ 1073 operating from Dubai International DXB to Ben Gurion International Airport TLV on 30 September experienced an incident while en route The aircraft has landed safely in Tabuk TUU and all passengers are safe and accounted for The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew remain our highest priorityrdquo Israeli media quoted the airline as sayingldquoOur teams are working closely with the relevant authorities Further updates will be issued as additional confirmed details become availablerdquo the airline statedFollowing the emergency landing flydubai was sending a second aircraft to Tabuk Airport to transport the stranded passengers to Tel AvivThe incident remained under investigation with the airline saying further updates would be issued once additional confirmed details became availableWith ANI inputs