Passengers foil bid to crash Dubai-Tel Aviv flight after co-pilot stabs pilot

Israel is set to ramp up security checks on pilots flying into the country, a spokesperson for the prime minister's office said, after it said a co-pilot on a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv had stabbed the pilot and attempted to crash the plane.



The dramatic incident was only defused after passengers helped subdue the co-pilot before other on-duty pilots employed by the airline on the plane landed the aircraft safely in Saudi Arabia. The Dubai state-owned airline warned against "premature speculation" and said much remained unclear.



Saudi authorities have arrested and interrogated the co-pilot of flydubai flight FZ1073 from the United Arab Emirates to Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. Some 169 of the total 172 passengers on board were Israeli nationals, Ambassador Daniel Meron at the Israeli permanent mission in

Geneva told Reuters.