Pilot stabbed on Flydubai flight to Israel, plane diverted to Saudi Arabia

What happened

A Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was diverted to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after one pilot stabbed the other and apparently tried to crash the plane, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He says a pilot has been arrested by Saudi authorities.

Netanyahu says passengers and crew stopped the attacker. He says an Israeli passenger told him the plane went into a spin and began to descend, before that passenger and a crew member broke into the cockpit. Other crew then took over flying the plane, which landed at Tabuk Airport in north-western Saudi Arabia.

The airport says the captain and first officer were injured. Flydubai says all passengers are safe and accounted for, and that an altercation occurred in the flight deck. It says on-duty crew diverted and landed the aircraft safely. Israel scrambled warplanes amid fears of a hijacking, an official confirmed, and Netanyahu says Saudi Arabia also sent fighter jets.

Israel's Defence Minister, Israel Katz, has called it an attempted jihadist terror attack. No police, emergency service or investigator has yet given an official statement on motive, and Saudi Arabia had no immediate comment. Passengers from the flight later landed in Israel to cheers at the airport.

Key facts

• Flydubai flight FZ1073 left Dubai for Tel Aviv on Wednesday and was diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
• Netanyahu says one pilot stabbed the other and apparently tried to crash the plane.
• The captain and first officer were injured, according to the Tabuk airport.
• Flydubai says all passengers are safe and accounted for.
• A pilot has been arrested and is being questioned by Saudi authorities, according to Netanyahu.
• Reports give between about 150 and 170 people on board, with around 160 from Israel according to Netanyahu's office.

What you need to know

• Flydubai says all passengers are safe and accounted for.
• Passengers received medical attention from local authorities in Saudi Arabia, according to a regional official.
• Netanyahu says Israeli security forces are in close contact with the relevant authorities to ensure passengers' continued safety.

What happens next

Saudi authorities are questioning the arrested pilot, and a probe is under way involving Saudi Arabia and regional partners. No official motive has been given.

Still to be confirmed

• The motive. Israel's Defence Minister calls it a terror attack, but no investigator has confirmed a motive.
• The identity of the arrested pilot, which authorities have not shared.
• Exactly how the fight began. An Israeli official initially described a fight between two pilots, one armed with a knife.
• The exact number of people on board, with reports ranging from about 150 to 170.