Dubai-Tel Aviv flight passengers arrive home after emergency landing
Passengers aboard a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv arrived home in Israel on Wednesday night after an incident in the cockpit forced their plane to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
Among those returning was Dr Shota Musayev, a dentist who described treating one of the injured pilots during the emergency. “At that moment the only priority was first to save the man,” he said.
Musayev recalled the aircraft rapidly losing altitude during the incident. “Another five seconds and that was it. Because we lost 16,000 feet in half a minute,” he said.
Other passengers praised those who helped during the emergency. “We were truly saved... it was insane. True heroes,” one passenger said, pointing to Musayev as the doctor who treated and resuscitated the injured pilot.
Flight FZ1073, carrying around 150 people, most of them Israeli, had been scheduled to land at Ben-Gurion Airport before being diverted to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia.
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Flydubai later confirmed that an “altercation” had occurred on the flight deck. The airline said crew members travelling on the flight secured the aircraft and diverted it safely to Tabuk, adding that all passengers and crew were accounted for.
Saudi Arabia's aviation operator Cluster2 said the captain and co-pilot were hospitalised with injuries. Flydubai said the reasons and motives behind the incident remain under formal investigation.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
