NEW DELHI: Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Thursday said the person involved in the cockpit incident aboard a flydubai flight had planned to crash the aircraft and kill the Israelis on board, as Transportation Minister Miri Regev called for the suspension of all flydubai flights to Israel following the incident.Thanking the passengers who intervened during the incident, Ben-Gvir said Israel’s security approach needed to be strengthened and described the person under investigation as a “terrorist”.“The naive notion that our enemies value life and that we should have mercy on them received another reminder this morning in the form of a terrorist who planned to crash a plane and murder the 180 Israelis on board,” Ben-Gvir said on X.“Terrorism is a devil with which no agreement should ever be reached except for its defeat and erasure from the face of the earth,” he said, adding that Israel must continue until achieving what he called “total victory” in Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, and Judea and Samaria.Regev, meanwhile, has demanded that all flydubai flights to Israel be suspended following the incident aboard a flight travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, according to Israeli media reports.She has also asked Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority to investigate whether the United Arab Emirates violated its aviation agreement with Israel. The agreement reportedly stipulates that only pilots holding passports from countries that have diplomatic relations with Israel may land in the country.
What happened aboard flydubai flight?
The incident occurred aboard flight FZ1073, a Boeing 737 MAX carrying around 180 passengers, including Israelis, from Dubai to Tel Aviv.Passengers described scenes of panic after screams erupted in the cabin, with one pilot reportedly stabbed and the aircraft suddenly plunging thousands of feet.“We heard screams on the plane. Then they opened the cockpit and we saw blood, and someone had stabbed the pilot with a pocketknife,” an Israeli passenger told Channel 12.Another passenger, identified as Noam, said: “Screams began on the plane… by passengers who realized what was happening,” according to The Times of Israel.Passengers said some Israelis helped crew members restrain the attacker. Israeli media also reported that two additional pilots travelling as passengers intervened during the confrontation.The aircraft transmitted the international emergency code 7700 before briefly sending code 7500, which indicates hijacking or unlawful interference. Israeli authorities reportedly scrambled fighter jets after losing contact with the aircraft.Flight data showed the plane suddenly dropped from about 34,000 feet to around 17,000 feet in less than a minute before climbing and descending again.The aircraft eventually established contact and diverted to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia, where it landed safely. Flydubai said all passengers were safe and accounted for.Read more: Screams, chaos onboard as Flydubai flight takes 17,000 ft roller coaster ride mid-airIsraeli media reports have identified the pilot under investigation as an Omani national, although the details have not been independently confirmed.Israel does not have diplomatic relations with Oman, making the reported nationality relevant to Regev’s request for an aviation agreement review.There were also unconfirmed reports that the confrontation began when one pilot attacked the other and that the aircraft was subsequently at risk of being deliberately crashed. Israeli officials are investigating the circumstances of the cockpit incident.A senior Israeli official told Channel 12 that the presence of the additional pilots travelling as passengers helped avert what could have been a major disaster, although that account has not been independently confirmed.Flydubai has confirmed that an incident occurred aboard the flight but has not publicly confirmed the reported stabbing, the identity or nationality of the person involved, or the alleged motive.