Israeli leaders said on Wednesday that a “jihadist” pilot had aimed to crash a flydubai plane with mostly Israeli passengers, who overpowered him and prevented a “major disaster”.
“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,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video message.
He said he spoke to an Israeli passenger who broke into the cockpit as the plane started to plummet and fought the pilot who was trying to bring down the aircraft.
“Another air crew member who was on the plane entered the cockpit and managed to stabilise the aircraft,” Netanyahu said.
“I salute these heroes, who showed extraordinary resourcefulness and courage. They saved many lives; they prevented a major disaster.”
Defence Minister Israel Katz described the incident as “an attempted jihadist terror attack” that was “thwarted only thanks to the heroism of several Israeli passengers”.
Katz did not identify his source for assigning a motive to the pilot, whose identity has not been revealed.
Netanyahu said the pilot who allegedly stabbed his colleague “has been arrested and is currently being interrogated by the Saudi authorities”.
“I have instructed the security services to prepare for additional potential threats. We are conducting ongoing situation assessments,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu a day earlier had warned of potential attacks ahead of Israel’s October 27 election, leading opposition chief Yair Lapid to accuse him of fear-mongering.
Katz took a veiled swipe at Lapid, saying the government’s security warnings should be taken seriously by “both our enemies outside and former insiders who are not up to date”.
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