Free Republic

Nina Manes was travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv with her family when she asked her mother Tali to take her to the toilet near the front of the Boeing 737 MAX 8. As they approached, Tali heard shouting and banging coming from behind the cockpit door and immediately realised something was wrong. She alerted a flight attendant before the cockpit door opened and revealed Captain Smit Machchhar covered in blood as he fought with his co-pilot. Tali began screaming for help, shouting: “He’s stabbing the pilot, he’s stabbing the pilot, come help!” Her husband Tzvika heard the screams, collected...

Flydubai Flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv abruptly diverted to Saudi Arabia earlier today after a reported fight between the pilots triggered a distress alert, sources told CNN. Flight-tracking data from Flightradar24 shows Flydubai Flight FZ1073 diverted over Jordanian airspace toward Saudi Arabia and rapidly descended 17,400 feet in just minutes around 0120 ET. Israeli fighter jets were scrambled. According to Amit Segal of Israel’s Channel 12 News: Following situation assessments and passenger testimonies, Israel is treating the incident as a full-fledged terrorist attack. It appears that the co-pilot repeatedly stabbed the captain. Once the attack began, several crew...