Flydubai Co-Pilot Reportedly Stabs Captain as Jet Plunges More Than 14,000 Feet

Adriana Stone 0 1 min read

Flydubai Co-Pilot Reportedly Stabs Captain as Jet Plunges More Than 14,000 Feet

An Israel-bound Flydubai flight made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after a reported cockpit altercation sent the jet plunging thousands of feet. Passengers described a terrifying scene, while Israeli officials examined whether the incident could have been an attempted terror attack, Fox News reported.

Passengers and Israeli officials said a bloody cockpit altercation resulted in the co-pilot stabbing the captain. According to reports, the co-pilot collapsed onto the controls, apparently shutting down the entire instrument panel. Cabin crew reportedly entered the cockpit and took control of the plane. Israeli fighter jets were scrambled over concern about a potential hijacking.

The flight was identified as FZ1073 in a post from i24 News correspondent Amichai Stein. Video and images from inside the aircraft showed the chaos as passengers tried to understand what was happening.

One passenger described the terrifying moments to Fox News:

“There are many different accounts, but apparently the co-pilot stabbed the captain and collapsed onto the controls, shutting down the entire instrument panel. We began plunging downward for several minutes. Everyone on the plane was screaming, the overhead compartments opened, and the power went out. We were sure we were going to die. It was very scary,”

Another passenger told Fox News there was “a lot of blood” from the stabbing. Graphic images reportedly showed a bloodied passenger who assisted cabin crew members and likely the stabbed pilot.

Stein reported that the aircraft had dropped 4,305 meters—over 14,000 feet—in about 30 seconds at 8:22 a.m. local time, falling from roughly 9,411 meters to about 5,105 meters.

Fox News separately reported that the plane plunged roughly 17,000 feet in one minute. The early accounts cited different measurements and time periods, but each described a sudden and severe loss of altitude.

The aircraft ultimately made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. The reported cockpit stabbing, the loss of control, and the fighter-jet response all intensified fears that the incident could have involved a hijacking. Israeli officials were investigating whether it was an attempted terror attack.

The incident remained a developing story, with officials still working to establish exactly what happened inside the cockpit and how the flight was brought safely back under control.

Source: The Gateway Pundit

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