Zürcher Nachrichten - Israel PM hails Indian pilot of rerouted flight for averting disaster

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the co-pilot of the flydubai jet had been trying to crash it and kill all its passengers, with Israel's foreign ministry denouncing the incident as "an attempted terrorist attack" aimed at damaging the country's relationship with one of its key Middle Eastern partners.

Passengers gave a similar account of the incident, describing rushing the cockpit after the plane suddenly plummeted, losing around 17,000 feet of altitude in the span of a minute, according to the Flightradar24 website.

Flydubai said all the passengers -- of whom 166 out of 174 were Israeli, according to media reports -- were safe, adding that the reasons for the altercation were unknown.

AFPTV images later showed another flydubai plane carrying the passengers touch down at Tel Aviv airport, hours after their initial flight was diverted to Saudi Arabia's Tabuk.

"During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board," Netanyahu said in a video message.

"I salute these heroes," he said of the passengers, adding "they prevented a major disaster".

He later hailed the pilot who was wounded -- identified as Indian national Smit Machchhar -- "for his extraordinary bravery", praising him for fighting back despite being wounded and "preventing a catastrophic mid-air disaster".

The Indian embassy said Machchhar was being treated at a Saudi hospital, while the company operating the airport in Tabuk said the co-pilot was also found to be injured upon landing.

Footage shared by the premier's office on Wednesday evening showed Netanyahu meeting the passengers of the flight at Tel Aviv airport and embracing a man in a bloodied shirt.

"Is that from him (the assailant)?" the premier asks, pointing at the stains, as the man replies in the affirmative.

- 'Out of control' -

Passenger Miryam Shira Ohayon said the plane was "pretty much out of control" as the incident unfolded over Jordan.

"So the co-pilot tried to murder the pilot and basically carry out a suicide attack on the plane," she told reporters by speakerphone held up by her mother, who was waiting at Ben Gurion Airport.

"It was really on the way to crashing, and it was simply the resourcefulness of many people who took control of the co-pilot and neutralised him," she said.

The airline later said it was another "on-duty flydubai crew travelling on the flight, who diverted and landed the aircraft safely".

It also announced it was suspending flights to Israel while the incident was being investigated.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz described the incident as "an attempted jihadist terror attack", but did not identify his source for assigning a motive.

The director general of Israel's foreign ministry called it "an attempted terrorist attack against Israelis, the United Arab Emirates, and the Abraham Accords", referring to the peace deal signed by the two countries in 2020.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he had spoken with top UAE diplomat Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, with the pair agreeing "to collaborate against extremist elements seeking to harm security and undermine stability".

- 'A long day' -

Describing the flight's sudden plunge, passenger Almog Italie told AFP it was like "we were having very big turbulence" before fighting erupted near the cockpit.

"The other passengers from the front took over control," he told AFP via video call from Saudi Arabia.

"It has been a long day, luckily for us it's ended," Italie said hours later after landing in Tel Aviv.

Fellow passenger Chaim Nazarovitz said the ordeal had been "very terrifying", adding that for a moment he felt like he was "not among the living".

Israel's Kan public broadcaster and Channel 12 reported that the Israeli military had scrambled fighter jets after fears of a possible hijacking.

In a video from inside the plane, one passenger -- blood dripping from an open wound on his head -- pleaded for assistance and said they were descending into Saudi Arabia.

Israel has no formal ties with the Gulf kingdom, but Italie said the group received a "very warm" welcome there.

The incident comes months into a regional war that erupted in late February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

It also comes just ahead of Israeli elections due to be held at the end of October.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu said there were "indications" that Israel's enemies could try to attack ahead of elections, and was accused of "fear-mongering" by the opposition chief.

T.L.Marti--NZN