Israeli minister claims ‘terrorist’ wanted to crash plane

Israeli authorities are not ruling out a terrorism angle in the mid-air incident aboard flydubai Flight FZ1073 that was travelling from Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates to Ben Gurion in Israel. Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel's security minister, said that “terrorist” wanted to crash Flydubai's FZ1073 plane to kill Israelis, reported a news agency. Both the pilot and copilot of the flight were injured and have been hospitalised, the company operating the Tabuk airport said in a statement. All passengers and crew were reported safe. According to a report by The Times of Israel, the aircraft first issued an international emergency signal and later changed it to a hijacking or unlawful interference code. The flight descended about 17,400 feet in roughly two minutes before the first emergency signal was transmitted.

Footage taken by a passenger aboard the flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv after the plane took a rapid plunge. pic.twitter.com/O3vd5644pL

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The Boeing 737, which Israeli media reported was carrying around 150 Israeli passengers, then transmitted the initial general emergency signal again before eventually landing at Tabuk airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia, according to Flightradar24. As per Isareili media report, a second team of pilots in civilian clothes who were on the flydubai plane made the emergency landing. The aircraft sustained damage to the rudder on the rear of the aircraft. Israel, which called the incident an attempted "terror attack", said its spy agency Mossad was investigating the incident.
The captain was an Emirati citizen, and the co-pilot an Omani, who had reportedly worked for the airline for less than a year. According to one passenger, the captain was “seriously wounded” and was taken for treatment after the plane landed. Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk airport said the pilot and copilot were both injured and had been hospitalised. Later reports said the copilot was being investigated by Saudi authorities.