Two Australian citizens onboard a flight to Tel Aviv that was diverted after one of the pilots allegedly stabbed the other in an attack are “safe,” the foreign minister confirmed.
The passengers are a Jewish couple from Sydney, the Israeli embassy in Australia confirmed to the Guardian on Thursday.
No further details were provided.
The flydubai aircraft was travelling from the United Arab Emirates to Israel when it was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
In a post on social media, Penny Wong thanked the “heroes” for thwarting the attack.
“Relieved to confirm at least two Australians who were on the Flydubai flight to Israel are safe – thanks to the heroes who thwarted the attack and helped bring the passengers to safety,” she wrote.
“We’re thinking of those injured and hope for their full recovery.”
One of the pilots, whom Israeli officials said was an Omani citizen, is accused of stabbing his fellow pilot. During the alleged attack, the plane plunged about 17,000 feet in just two minutes.
Passenger Yaniv Hayoun later recounted how he and other passengers heard screaming and felt pressure as the plane dived before forcing their way into the cockpit and finding the attacker at the instrument panel.
“I grabbed the attacker, put him in a chokehold, and dragged him out first,” Hayoun said during a meeting with Netanyahu after the plane had landed safely and the passengers were flown to Israel. “He was trying to destroy the instruments to disable the plane.”
Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Hillel Newman, said the incident reminded him of the 11 September attacks.
“You have here a very special incident, and due to the real heroism of some people on board, they were saved.”
Newman said heightened security alerts had been issued after the attack.
“It just shows that … those that hate Israel also hate the peace.
“It’s an attempt to hit at the peace itself, at the Abraham Accords, and the relationships which Israel does have with Arab and Muslim countries.”
The Abraham Accords normalised relations between the UAE and Israel in 2020.
Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said it was too early to tell who was ultimately behind the incident.
There are about 12,000 Australian citizens living in Israel and 25,000 in the UAE.
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