ALBAWABA- Saudi Arabia refused an Israeli request to allow military aircraft into its airspace to collect passengers stranded at Tabuk Airport after a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing following a violent cockpit incident, Israeli sources said.
The request was reportedly denied because Saudi Arabia and Israel do not have diplomatic relations. The stranded passengers, most of them Israeli nationals, later resumed their journey aboard a replacement Flydubai aircraft and landed safely at Ben-Gurion Airport, where they were met by relatives and officials.
The incident involved Flydubai flight FZ1073, a Boeing 737 carrying about 174 passengers, including 27 children. During the flight, the co-pilot, an Omani national, allegedly stabbed the captain, an Indian national, in what Israeli officials described as an attempt to take control of the aircraft and crash it.
The aircraft reportedly lost more than 14,000 feet of altitude in less than a minute, triggering emergency alerts and prompting Israel to scramble fighter jets amid fears of a possible hijacking. Israeli passengers and crew members reportedly entered the cockpit, overpowered the co-pilot and helped restore control of the aircraft. Two off-duty pilots travelling as passengers then took over and diverted the plane to Tabuk Airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia, where it landed safely.
BREAKING: Passengers from the Flydubai flight at the center of an apparent midair attack arrive safely at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, greeted with Israeli flags, chants and celebration.The emotional homecoming follows a terrifying ordeal aboard their original Dubai-to-Tel… pic.twitter.com/9sNd4PG9cf
Saudi authorities assumed control of the situation after the aircraft landed. The injured captain and the co-pilot were taken to hospital, while Saudi authorities arrested the co-pilot and began questioning him. Airport officials and security forces secured the passengers and coordinated arrangements for their onward travel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that the co-pilot had been arrested. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz described the incident as a serious security attack and said the co-pilot had intended to bring down the aircraft with everyone aboard.
Katz also credited the Israeli passengers who entered the cockpit with helping prevent what he described as a major disaster. Flydubai said all passengers were safe and accounted for and that the airline was cooperating with the relevant authorities investigating the incident.
Dr. Mansour Al-Maswari is Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University-Global Center, Amman. A Yemeni academician with a Ph.D. in English "Comparative Literature" and two MA degrees, one in political science and the other in English, Dr. Al-Maswari possesses more than 17 years of extensive experience in university-level teaching, research, research reviewing, bilingual translation, and copy-writing...
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