Netanyahu meets Flydubai flight passengers at Tel Aviv airport after their arrival
AFP2 min read
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Wednesday evening passengers of the Flydubai flight that had its route changed to Saudi Arabia earlier, according to a spokesperson for the Prime Minister.
A video released by Netanyahu's office showed the Prime Minister at Tel Aviv airport meeting a man named Yaniv, explaining that he was one of the passengers who managed to break into the cockpit. According to Netanyahu and witnesses, passengers managed to control the co-pilot as he attempted to crash the plane.
Flight tracking website Flightradar24 showed that a second Flydubai flight, number FZ1081, continued its journey to Tel Aviv after earlier data from the site indicated it had returned to Dubai.
The monitoring of the second Flydubai flight follows an incident involving another Flydubai flight that was en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv, which experienced an incident during flight, leading it to change its route and land in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after sending emergency signals.
Flydubai confirmed the safe landing of the flight and that all passengers were safe, while an Israeli official reported that the pilots had a dispute, and the Israeli authorities confirmed that the incident was not classified as a hijacking or a security incident.
Netanyahu said earlier that the incident involving the Flydubai flight was "very serious," noting that he had ordered the security system to prepare for further potential threats.
Netanyahu added that the Israeli authorities are continuously following up with the concerned parties to ensure the safety of the plane's passengers, noting that most of them are Israelis.
He pointed out that one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot and then apparently tried to crash the plane.
Netanyahu said that the Saudi authorities had detained the Flydubai flight's co-pilot and were interrogating him.
