A flydubai flight travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv landed in Saudi Arabia after what passengers described as a stabbing involving a pilot, according to bbc.co.uk. The aircraft was diverted and touched down safely in Saudi territory, the BBC reported.
Accounts given to Israeli media by passengers say a pilot was stabbed during the incident, bbc.co.uk reports. Other outlets covering the same event describe it differently: The Guardian reported an emergency landing following a reported fight between the pilots, while Sky News referred to a "brawl between pilots" and said the flight landed safely. The Telegraph reported that the Israel-bound flight was intercepted after a pilot was reportedly stabbed. NDTV carried passenger remarks thanking the pilot, under the headline "You Saved Us All."
The flight had been bound for Israel when it was diverted. Saudi Arabia does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel, which makes the landing notable, though the reporting above does not detail how the diversion was arranged or who authorised it.
Details of what happened in the cockpit remain disputed across outlets, and no account of injuries, arrests or the condition of anyone on board has been confirmed in the material available. The nationalities of those involved and the exact sequence of events have not been established in these reports.
What to watch next: official statements from flydubai, Israeli and Saudi authorities clarifying the condition of the pilot and the circumstances of the diversion.
