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 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 Saud...