The UK government will assess how to keep Britons safe on flights after a pilot stabbed his colleague and tried to crash a plane bound for Israel, according to a minister.
Passengers and crew subdued the alleged attacker as the FlyDubai plane dropped from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet (10,000 metres to 5,100 metres) in about a minute.
The aircraft, travelling from the United Arab Emirates to Tel Aviv carrying dozens of passengers, was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
Asked by Sky News whether the Government will review the safety of flights leaving the UK for Israel, Treasury minister James Murray said: “I know that my colleagues in in the Foreign Office, in the Department of Transport, they’ll be looking at this to make sure that we’re keeping people in Britain safe.”
He added: “When I saw the reports coming in about it yesterday, the vividness of what was described, I think, is really chilling.
“But then the bravery of the people who got involved – I mean, it’s quite hard to imagine on a personal level, but I think the bravery, we all salute people who step up in those situations to try and do the right thing, and how incredible.
“The facts will come become clearer over time, and I know the Israeli authorities are saying they just want to be clear about what exactly happened. But on the face of it, what an incredible thing for people to have done.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday named the pilot who was attacked as Captain Smit Machchhar, and praised him as a "true hero" for fighting back against the attacker and opening the cockpit door.
A spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister’s office said initially that the incident was not believed to be a hijacking incident.
Reports soon emerged that a fight broke out between the pilot and the co-pilot on the flight. Video footage circulating on social media showed two men on the floor of the plane, with bloody wounds. One passenger said others helped tackle one of the pilots and tie him down.
Another passenger, Almog Itali, told the BBC that two relief pilots on board at the time, one of them British, then entered the cockpit and stabilised the plane before bringing it down safely in Saudi Arabia just before 7am.
Flydubai promptly confirmed that it had experienced an “incident” but said all passengers were safe and accounted for.
