What happened on diverted Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv?

A flight from the United Arab Emirates to Israel was diverted to Saudi Arabia after issuing a distress signal in what appeared to be a hijacking attempt on Wednesday.

The Flydubai flight FZ1073 was diverted as it flew from Dubai to Tel Aviv through Jordanian airspace, prompting Israel to deploy warplanes, the Reuters news agency reported.
Flydubai said an altercation had occurred on the flight deck and that all passengers were safe and accounted for. The plane was secured by on-duty crew travelling onboard, it added.

“At this early stage, the underlying reasons and motives behind this event are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation,” a Flydubai spokesperson said in a statement. “We urge all parties to refrain from premature speculation while authorities gather the facts.”

At Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk airport, where the plane landed, officials said both the plane’s captain and first officer were taken to hospital after sustaining injuries, according to a statement from the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk, carried by the Saudi state-run Al Ekhbariya television.

India’s embassy in Saudi Arabia later identified the injured captain as Indian national Smit Machchhar. The embassy said he was receiving treatment at a hospital in Tabuk and was reported to be in stable condition, adding that it was in contact with his family and Saudi authorities.

What happened?
Footage taken onboard the plane appears to show the injured pilot lying on the cabin floor with several stab wounds, and a passenger with a bloody wound to the head.

In another video, passengers weep and cry out in distress as the aircraft shakes.

Yasmin Abukasis, the mother of one of the passengers onboard, said her daughter Miriam thought she was going to die. “The plane started to lose control,” she told journalists at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport, before other pilots onboard took control of the aircraft.

Flight tracking data indicated the plane descended about 14,000 feet (4,300 metres) in less than 30 seconds about two and a half hours after leaving Dubai. Flightradar24 said on X that an initial general emergency signal designated by code 7700 was issued at about 05:31 GMT and was later changed to another emergency signal with code 7500 declaring “unlawful interference”.