Two pilots of the FlyDubai company got into a fight during a flight. As a result, an SOS signal regarding the possible hijacking of the aircraft was transmitted to the ground.
The airplane was flying from Dubai to Israel. When it was over Jordan, it suddenly lost altitude and changed its route towards Saudi Arabia, transmitting three emergency signals, one of which indicated a possible illegal intervention on the aircraft.
There were about 180 passengers on board. Immediately after the alert, the authorities launched military aircraft from the ground and directed the aircraft to an airport in Saudi Arabia, writes hotnews.ro.
One of the pilots was a citizen of Oman and allegedly stabbed his colleague, a native of the United Arab Emirates. Subsequently, he is said to have steered the plane towards the ground. Witnesses claim that the aircraft was virtually uncontrollable.
According to The Moscow Times, two other pilots, a Russian and a Ukrainian, were traveling on that plane and provided support to the crew members. They allegedly entered the pilot’s cabin, immobilized the attacker, and took control of the aircraft.
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that all the people on board are safe after the attack, following the appearance of video recordings on social networks where the attacked pilot lost a lot of blood, after being stabbed. The official did not rule out that it could have been a premeditated attack.
“Almost all of the passengers on board the plane were Israelis. During the flight, as they were approaching Israel, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot and it seems he was trying to crash the plane with everyone on board,” said Netanyahu.
Other officials in Israel believe that a terrorist attack could have occurred. According to local publications, it is being determined whether the regime in Tehran had any connection with the serious security incident.