What we know about the Flydubai flight to Israel

{"text":[[{"start":6.45,"text":"More than two hours after taking off from Dubai, packed with Israelis returning home, Flydubai’s flight to Tel Aviv plunged nearly 20,000ft in a matter of minutes and issued emergency alerts, including one for “unlawful interference” — a rare potential signal for a hijacking."}],[{"start":25.5,"text":"What unfolded on board was a terrifying ordeal for the passengers and crew. One of the pilots stabbed the other pilot and apparently tried to crash the plane, according to witnesses and Israeli officials."}],[{"start":38.45,"text":"Witness accounts published on social media in the hours following the aircraft’s landing showed chaotic scenes and passengers with bloodstained clothes after they intervened to stop the assault."}],[{"start":49.45,"text":"In an address to the nation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a passenger said he and a crew member had “neutralised” the assailant. Another crew member who was on the flight entered the cockpit and succeeded in stabilising the plane, Netanyahu added."}],[{"start":66.05000000000001,"text":"Flydubai blamed the incident on “an altercation that occurred in the flight deck of the flight”, saying the motive was unknown."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":73.80000000000001,"text":"It said the crew “successfully secured” the plane and “diverted and landed the aircraft safely”, adding that all the more than 150 passengers and crew were safe and accounted for."}],[{"start":85.60000000000001,"text":"The plane was diverted to an airport in Tabuk, north-western Saudi Arabia, a state Israel does not have formal relations with."}],[{"start":92.95,"text":"An Israeli official said the attacker was an Omani national and described the incident as a planned “9/11-style” attack. The information could not be independently verified."}],[{"start":102.9,"text":"Flydubai provided replacement aircraft to fly the passengers and crew from Tabuk back to Tel Aviv."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":110,"text":"The carrier is a budget airline owned by the Dubai government and flies to Israel multiple times a day. "}],[{"start":116.3,"text":"After other international airlines halted flights to Israel following Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack and the subsequent wave of conflict in Gaza and across the region, Flydubai’s flights provided an important route in and out of the Jewish state."}],[{"start":137.55,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1790816894_4475.mp3"}