After hours of tension, the passengers of the Flydubai plane returned to Israel

Tel Aviv - Ofoq News - The evacuation plane carrying the passengers of Flydubai flight FZ1073 landed at Ben Gurion Airport this Wednesday evening, after hours of tension that followed the declaration of a state of emergency on board and the diversion of its course to Saudi Arabia.

Upon landing, the control tower at Ben Gurion Airport welcomed the Israelis back safely, and said to the cabin crew: “Good evening, Flydubai 1073, Ben Gurion Tower. Welcome to Israel, and thank you for returning our passengers safely to their homes.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received the passengers at Ben Gurion Airport, and met among them Yaniv Hayyoun, one of the people who participated in controlling the pilot of the plane, according to the report.

Netanyahu told Hayyoun: “I am watching you and I see a great hero.” Hayyoun narrated that he entered the cockpit and saw the pilot trying to tamper with the plane's steering systems, adding that he grabbed him and took him out of the cockpit, then returned and took control of the plane's controls.

Flight FZ1073 took off on Wednesday morning from Dubai towards Ben Gurion Airport, before it issued a distress signal while it was over Jordanian airspace and turned back. The airline later announced that the distress signal was sent after a quarrel between the pilots.

According to an Israeli source, an investigation is underway into suspicion that the co-pilot, an Omani citizen, tried to control the plane and shoot it down, while the plane’s pilot, a UAE citizen, prevented him from doing so. During the confrontation that took place on board the plane, the plane suddenly descended to a distance of about 14,000 feet, equivalent to about 4.27 kilometers, within one minute.

The plane landed in the Saudi city of Tabuk, where passengers waited about eight hours before the evacuation plane took off for Israel.

Reuters quoted security officials as saying that Saudi Arabia rejected an Israeli request to allow Israeli aircraft to transport Israeli passengers from its territory.

Following the Saudi refusal, Flydubai sent an alternative plane to transport more than 100 Israeli passengers to Ben Gurion Airport, but dozens of passengers initially refused to board it for fear of traveling on a plane belonging to the Emirati company. Some passengers contacted Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev and officials in the National Security Council.

Following the incident, the Israeli General Security Agency, the Shin Bet, the Mossad, the Israeli army, and the Ministry of Transportation opened a joint investigation into its circumstances.

The investigation is examining, among other things, with the local authorities in Dubai, whether there were prior indications of the accident, and how the plane’s crew was formed to include a representative of a country that does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

Security officials told Kan News that there are fears of similar attacks, while they reported that the co-pilot was subjected to interrogation by the Saudi authorities, but no evidence or information is yet available indicating the presence of guidance from an organization or country.

Officials added that current estimates indicate that the incident was carried out by a single person.

Data from flight tracking website Flightradar24 showed that the plane, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 with registration A6-FKF, initially sent emergency code 7700, which indicates a general emergency. Later, reports of the code 7500, which indicates “unlawful interference,” appeared in some tracking systems.

Flight data showed that the plane entered Jordanian airspace, before a short time later it made a U-turn and returned towards Saudi Arabia. Tracking data also showed that the plane descended to an altitude of approximately 15,000 feet, which is much lower than the usual flight level on this route.

Passenger certificates

Passengers on board the plane recounted details of the tense moments they experienced in the air. A mother whose daughter was on the flight said that a state of panic and screaming for help prevailed on the plane, after a person carrying a knife tried to control it.

One of the passengers, Isaac Lieber, said in a recording he posted on social media that one of the pilots was seriously injured and was being evacuated, adding that another person was restrained, and that the passengers were able to control him.

Zvika Manes, one of the passengers on the flight and who was involved in controlling the person, also narrated in an interview with “Kan 11” that his young daughter was in the bathroom when his wife heard screaming coming from the cockpit.

He added that one of the crew members entered the cockpit, and after they saw the stabbing, they took the person out of the cockpit, then three of them jumped on him, controlled him, and tied him up using the speakers of the on-board entertainment system.