How Headphones Became The Secret Weapon In Hijacked Plane Terror Attack

Passengers aboard a Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight found themselves fighting for control of their own aircraft Wednesday after the co-pilot stabbed the captain and attempted to hijack the plane, according to Israeli officials. 

Firsthand accounts describe a chaotic struggle as passengers and crew members rushed toward the cockpit, subdued the suspected attacker, and helped get the plane safely onto the ground in Saudi Arabia.

Flight FZ1073, carrying 174 passengers, was heading from Dubai to Ben Gurion Airport when the emergency began. The aircraft transmitted the international 7700 distress code before switching to 7500, the code used to indicate unlawful interference or a possible hijacking. The plane plunged thousands of feet before eventually leveling out and diverting to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Israeli officials classified the incident as a terror attack. The attacker, an Omani co-pilot, allegedly stabbed the captain and attempted to seize control of the aircraft. Israeli security officials are investigating the circumstances and motive behind the attack.

The passengers did not simply wait for help. One Israeli passenger described the fight in a video recorded after the plane was brought under control.

“About the Dubai flight, we took control of the flight,” the passenger said. “Here, there was an incident with a crazy with a knife that stabbed one of the pilots. We just jumped in, and yeah, we got him.”

After the cockpit was secure, the passenger then reassured those watching that the situation was under control. “Everything’s under control now. Looks like we’ve landed in Saudi Arabia. You can see I’m okay. That’s it.” He went on to describe the condition of the pilots and the efforts to keep the aircraft secure. “The terrorist has been neutralized,” he said. “There’s a [pilot] here who is seriously wounded, and apparently another [pilot] in front who is slightly wounded, but he managed to land the plane.”

Another passenger involved in subduing the attacker gave an even more succinct description of the struggle. “We jumped on the pilot with force and tied him up using headphones,” the passenger said.

One passenger’s mother described what her daughter had seen, telling the Jerusalem Post that they heard screams before seeing the pilot on the floor and blood inside the cockpit.

The aircraft was rapidly losing altitude during the confrontation, and Israeli officials said it plunged more than 17,000 feet during the incident. 

Israeli fighter jets were scrambled as authorities initially feared the aircraft had been hijacked. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz convened an emergency security consultation as the plane remained out of contact and headed away from Israel. The plane ultimately landed with all passengers and crew alive.

Israeli security officials have said the working assessment shifted from an unexplained cockpit altercation to an attempted terror attack after passenger testimony and the investigation indicated that the attacker may have been trying to take control of the aircraft and crash it.

Flydubai has confirmed that the aircraft experienced an incident and landed safely in Tabuk, with all passengers and crew accounted for. The airline has said the underlying motives remain subject to a formal investigation.

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