Imagine this: you're 34,000ft over Jordan, Dubai to Tel Aviv, and suddenly the plane nosedives 17,000ft in under two minutes. Screams everywhere. That’s exactly what happened on Flydubai flight FZ1073.

According to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, the co-pilot stabbed the captain mid-flight and “apparently tried to crash the plane” in what officials are calling a highly severe security incident and a possible terror attempt.

The Boeing 737 Max 8 was cruising from Dubai to Tel Aviv when it plummeted before being diverted to Saudi Arabia.

It’s the passengers who became heroes. One passenger described “terrible screams throughout the plane” as three to five men burst into the cockpit and wrestled the attacker down.

Another, Miryam Shira Ohayon, told reporters on landing: “The co-pilot tried to murder the pilot and basically carry out a suicide attack… it was really on the way to crashing.”

Netanyahu himself saluted them, saying they “saved many lives and prevented a major disaster.” Two off-duty pilots sitting at the back reportedly rushed forward to land the jet safely in Saudi Arabia. All passengers have now finally landed in Israel.

This isn’t just an aviation scare. Data from Flightradar24 shows that kind of drop is near free-fall. Israeli jets were even scrambled as a precaution.

And context matters – since the 2020 Abraham Accords, Dubai-Tel Aviv has become one of the busiest corridors in the Middle East, with thousands flying weekly. A cockpit breach like this hasn’t been seen since the Germanwings 9525 tragedy in 2015 and EgyptAir 990 in 1999 – which is exactly why cockpit door protocols were tightened worldwide.

The alleged attacker has been arrested and is being questioned by Saudi authorities, while the injured captain – reportedly from the UAE – is being treated.

What next? Saudi investigators will lead, Israel is preparing for further threats, and Flydubai and aviation regulators will face huge questions: How did a knife get into the cockpit? Was this radicalisation, mental health, or something else?

For now, it’s a chilling reminder that air safety still depends on ordinary people being extraordinary.

This is cbinews.tv.

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