A passenger on a rerouted flydubai flight that was bound for Tel Aviv said one of the pilots tried to crash the plane and kill everyone on board, after both pilots were found to be wounded on landing in Saudi Arabia.
The incident comes as tensions are high across West Asia, amid the regional war that erupted in late February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
In the first comment by an official, Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, alleged an attempted “terrorist” attack in the incident, in which none of the passengers reported injuries.
In photos sent to AFP by one of the passengers, travellers, including children, are seen gathered in an airport lounge, with some sitting on the floor, while one man is wearing a white T-shirt and jeans stained with blood.
The flydubai plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk “at 9:45 a.m. (0645 GMT), and its captain and copilot were found to have injuries and were transported to hospital”, a statement from the company operating the airport said.
