Two Australian citizens were onboard a flight to Tel Aviv that was diverted after one of the pilots allegedly stabbed the other in an attack, according to the Israeli embassy. The passengers are a Jewish couple from Sydney, the embassy in Australia confirmed to the Guardian on Thursday. No further details were provided.
The flydubai aircraft was travelling from the United Arab Emirates to Israel when it was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. One of the pilots, whom Israeli officials said was an Omani citizen, is accused of stabbing his co-pilot. During the alleged attack, the plane plunged about 17,000 feet in just two minutes.
Passenger Yaniv Hayoun later recounted how he and other passengers heard screaming and felt pressure as the plane dived before forcing their way into the cockpit and finding the attacker at the instrument panel. Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said it was too early to tell who was ultimately behind the the incident. There are about 12,000 Australian citizens living in Israel and 25,000 in the UAE.
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