Kochi: A total of 150 passengers, most of them jews, and crew of a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv escaped a possible accident after a pilot was stabbed on Wednesday.The flight was diverted to Saudi Arabia after the attack, Israeli officials have told local media.The Flydubai plane signalled emergency two hours after it took off from the Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates early on Wednesday morning, BBC reported.Flight FZ1073 was forced to change course from it’s route to Ben-Gurion Airport and instead landed at Tabuk Airport in northeastern Saudi Arabia.Meanwhile, the Jerusalem Post quoting Israeli officials said it was an attempted hijacking by one of the pilots that led to a mid-air altercation.Additional flight crew, aided by Israelis on board the flight, managed to subdue the pilot and bring him under control, the official told the Post.The growing assessment among the Israeli security establishment, including the IDF, Mossad, and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), is that the incident was intended as an act of terror. During the altercation, the aircraft plunged approximately 4,000 meters in altitude, the official noted.
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