Flydubai co-pilot ‘assaulted’ captain before landing: Initial Saudi probe

Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry says the pilots were returned to the UAE with an Emirati security team.Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry says that a preliminary investigation into the emergency landing of a Flydubai flight this week found that “the pilot was assaulted by his pilot" class="entity-link entity-person" data-entity-id="211668" data-entity-type="person">co-pilot, resulting in various injuries to both”.the ministry said on Thursday that an initial investigation into the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was conducted by Saudi authorities with the participation of a security team from the United Arab Emirates.Recommended Stories list of 2 itemslist 1 of 2Flydubai stabbing: How safe are planes if a pilot turns violent?list 2 of 2Who is Capt. Smit, Machchhar, the pilot of the Flydubai flight?end of listIt was the first comment by the ⁠Saudi government on ⁠the incident.Flydubai flight FZ1073 was on its way from the UAE to Israel on Wednesday when a violent incident occurred that forced it to make an emergency landing at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz international airport in Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia.Flydubai said on the day that “an altercation occurred in the flight deck”, and that crew members secured the plane and diverted it safely.In its statement, the Saudi Interior Ministry said that, after the aircraft was cleared for emergency landing, it arrived “safely” at 9:45am local time (06:45 GMT) with 174 passengers and eight crew members on board. “All necessary care was provided.”At about 5:40pm that day, all the passengers continued their journey on a replacement Flydubai aircraft, while the rest of the crew – besides the captain and pilot" class="entity-link entity-person" data-entity-id="211668" data-entity-type="person">co-pilot – returned to Dubai on another flight, it added.The captain and pilot" class="entity-link entity-person" data-entity-id="211668" data-entity-type="person">co-pilot “were taken to hospital for treatment based on an assessment of their condition”.After their condition improved and they were medically cleared, the captain and pilot" class="entity-link entity-person" data-entity-id="211668" data-entity-type="person">co-pilot left Saudi Arabia for Abu Dhabi on Thursday morning, accompanied by the Emirati security team, the ministry said.