Wedaeli Chibelushi
Live page reporter

Earlier, Israel's prime minister said he spoke to a passenger who said he managed to break into the cockpit with a crew member.

In a similar testimony, another passenger told Israeli media that a group of men "burst" into the cockpit.

It is not yet clear how the cockpit door was opened, but aviation experts told the BBC cockpit doors are normally firmly locked and reinforced.

"My understanding has always been that it is a locked and bullet-proofed door, former airline captain Emma Henderson says.

Henderson says pilots in the cockpit can unlock the door from their seats.

Ex-pilot and aviation commentator Alastair Rosenschein expands on this, saying “there is a slightly different system in every aircraft” but most flight decks have an electronic switch that pilots can "simply flick”.

Israel's Minister of Culture and Sport Miki Zohar has expressed the government's gratitute to Saudi officials for swiftly helping passengers on the ill-fated flight that landed on its soil.

"On behalf of the people of Israel, I thank the Saudi people for the warm welcome and kindness they showed the Israeli passengers rescued this morning," he said in an online statement. "God willing, may peace come to us and to all the people of Israel."

The message includes video of Saudi medical professionals treating passengers injured from the incident.

This message of gratitude from a high level Israeli minister is significant because both countries do not have formal diplomatic relationships.

Saudi Arabia doesn't officially recognise Israel and passport holders ordinarily cannot enter the country. The kingdom has conditioned the normalisation of relations with Israel on the creation of a Palestinian state.

There celebratory scenes at Israel's Ben Gurion airport earlier as passengers from the Flydubai flight were greeted by large crowds who gathered to welcome the them home.

Many were waving Israeli flags and cheering as the returning passengers exited the terminal.

Image source, Reute

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, EPA

The Indian embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia says it is closely monitoring the health condition of Smit Machchhar, the Indian pilot who was attacked mid-flight.

Machchhar was taken to hospital in Tabuk city after the flight was diverted there, where he is now receiving "necessary medical attention", the embassy says.

A full update on his condition is not yet available but he is reportedly in stable condition, the embassy says.

"We hope that he recovers from his injuries at the earliest," the embassy says, adding that it is in touch with Machchhar's family.

Israel is set to increase its security checks on international pilots flying into Israel, a spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister's office tells Reuters.

"Every pilot that is going to be flying into Israel, we are going to know the pilots' identities, know who they are, and do some type of security check," Doron Spielman tells the news agency.

He says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed authorities to "ramp up security" on any flight in which "an Israeli is going to be flying into Israel".

"Our job right now is to do our best - even if they're not on Israeli airlines - to make sure that those security procedures are much higher," Spielman adds.

Former airline captain Emma Henderson tells the BBC an attack like the one in this morning's Israel-bound flight is "very unusual".

Although protocols have changed since the Germanwings crash in 2015 - when the co-pilot locked the captain out of the cockpit and caused a deadly crash - nothing could have prevented what happened.

Back in 2015, the European Aviation Safety Agency told airlines to "ensure at least two crew, including at least one qualified pilot, are in the cockpit at all times of the flight or implement other equivalent mitigating measures".

But this is different, Henderson explains: "It's very difficult to train for a scenario like this, where it seems that there was an intent by one of the pilots to do something with the aircraft that took it away from its safe flight path and then there was an altercation that resulted in violence".

Image source, Social media

Asked about damage to the plane, Henderson says it's difficult to tell why the tail rudder is no longer there. But, she adds, if there was a struggle in the cockpit then there could be enough pressure put on those flight control surfaces to damage that and make it break away.

"That's very much down to the investigation to find out", she says.

On the plane dropping 17,000 ft in under two minutes, Henderson says it is "definitely not a rate of descent that we'd use as part of a normal flight", adding that you'd only expect such a drop in that timeframe in emergencies.

Israeli officials are naming the pilot who was attacked mid-flight as Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian national.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's calls Machchhar a "true hero" of "extraordinary bravery".

"Despite being stabbed and seriously injured, he fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door, and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker — preventing a catastrophic mid-air disaster," Netanyahu writes on X.

"Today, our hearts are with him and his family," Israel's parliament speaker Amir Ohana also writes on X.

His name was also published by media outlets in India.

Gabriela Pomeroy
Live reporter

Image source, Reuters

Passengers who were travelling on the Flydubai plane from Dubai to Tel Aviv have made an emotional return to Israel's Ben Gurion airport.

Here's how the day unfolded.

The plane was diverted to Saudi Arabia earlier today after one of its pilots stabbed the other pilot, in what Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called an attempt to crash the plane. The plane plummeted 17,000ft (5,200m) and several Israeli passengers have been hailed as heroes after overpowering the attacker and taking control of the plane.

The passengers were greeted at the airport this evening by crowds of onlookers playing music, singing, dancing and waving Israeli flags.

"Thank God I'm alive," passenger Haim Lazarovich told journalists, adding that "the most terrifying moment in this flight was when the pilot loses control."

A number of people were "very emotional and crying as they came off the plane," a paramedic from Israel's ambulance service told the BBC.

Shortly afterwards, Netanyahu posted on social media that he met with one of the passengers, Yaniv, whom the PM said "broke into the cockpit".

Yaniv explained: "The pilot who was stabbed was simply very close to the door, so it was hard for us to open it." But before the stabbed pilot collapsed he was able to open the door. Yaniv said the attacker was trying to disable the plane.

Another passenger, Zvika Meness, said he helped overpower the attacker and that he and two others "tied [the attacker] up with his own zip ties and with the multimedia headphones."

Jon Donnison
Middle East correspondent in Ben Gurion

Interestingly, on Israeli airlines, there is usually an air marshal on board. That's a security officer who is usually armed, and that gives an extra level of protection.

I'm not aware that there would've been one on this Flydubai flight. It's only fairly recently that Israel formalised relations with the UAE and now there's a lot of flights going between the two countries, which never used to be the case.

Israelis, hearing this news, are going to be worried about flying on foreign airlines that aren't Israeli, as on those, they get a higher level of security.

Another question that will be asked is the vetting of pilots, and whether the pilot in this case was politically motivated or had mental issues.

Zvika Meness, a passenger who says he assisted in overpowering the attacker on the diverted flight, has told Israeli media that he and two other passengers tied the assailant up with zip ties and headphones.

Meness, who we earlier reported had described the incident as "traumatic", told Israeli public broadcaster Kan that a pilot in the passenger cabin entered the cockpit after hearing shouting.

"Then we saw stabbings and they were thrown out. It was a very difficult incident. Three of us jumped in and neutralised him," he says.

"Another pilot who was sitting in the passenger cabin went in to replace the additional pilot, and they essentially landed the plane. That's it," he adds.

Asked how they restrained the attacker, Meness says: "Three of us jumped on him forcefully, and we tied him up with his own zip ties and with the multimedia headphones. That is how we neutralised him."

Graphic footage appears to show bloodied pilotspublished at 18:41 BST

18:41 BST

By Shayan Sardarizadeh

BBC Verify has examined a graphic video which appears to show the pilots of the Flydubai flight covered in blood near the cockpit.

The footage shows two men wearing oxygen masks on the floor. One appears to have a yellow strap secured around his chest, while the other is topless. Blood can also be seen on a door behind them.

While we have not been able to determine the precise location of the flight when the video was filmed, there are several indicators pointing to it being authentic.

At least two men are wearing blue and white checked shirts which match Flydubai cabin crew uniforms.

The crew are watching over the injured men. Someone asks in English “how much time we need?” and the topless man is urged to stay awake.

Two men, who appear to be passengers, can be seen speaking in Hebrew. Both are identifiable in other imagery from the flight.

One is wearing a bloodied white T-shirt and tells the person filming they are “in the cockpit” guarding the pilot and adds ”we were attacked”.

The other, who has a visible head wound, says: “They attacked us on this plane. They tried to kill the pilot. We took control.”

Another passenger who has been speaking to journalists outside the airport says the incident on board lasted maybe five minutes but felt "like hell".

Oran Choen says he heard "Allahu Akbar" being shouted before the plane started to dive, about an hour before the flight was due to land - he does not specify who he heard say "Allahu Akbar".

"I can't tell you the feelings I felt in that moment... I am 18 years old... it was a very tough moment," he says.

"Maybe it was five minutes but it feels like hell - I heard my brother behind me scream that we was going to die," he adds.

Getting emotional, he says it was a "very bad moment".

Image source, Netanyahu/X

We can bring you more from Benjamin Netanyahu's meeting with one of the passengers, Yaniv, whom the PM says "broke into the cockpit".

Netanyahu describes him as "a hero" and asks how he did it.

"We are a nation of lions, aren't we?" the passenger says.

Netanyahu says he sees "a great hero" and pointing to the bloodstain on the shirt, says: "Wow, is that from him?," to which the passenger replies: "It's from him, yes."

"It's simply unbelievable what you did," Netanyahu says.

Explaining more about how he broke through the door, Yaniv explains: "The pilot who was stabbed was simply very close to the door, so it was hard for us to open it."

But he says "before he (the stabbed pilot) collapsed" he managed to open the door.

"When I entered, I saw the attacker on the instruments, between the two seats... there were no pilots in the seats.

"One was down, one was on the instruments. And another guy came in with me. I grabbed the attacker, put him in a chokehold, and pulled him - first and foremost - outside."

He says the attacker was "trying to destroy the instruments in order to disable the plane".

Yaniv then says he called out "to the Israeli guys with us on the plane", and together they "pinned him down to keep him secure".

Yaniv also says he "pulled the controls [of the plane]".

"You pulled the controls?" Netanyahu responds.

"I watch Air Crash Investigation, Mr Prime Minister," Yaniv replies. "And the plane started to level out, a bit more, and then the pilot told me he was taking control from there."

Image source, Israeli Prime Minister's Office

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has met passengers at Ben Gurion airport after they got off their repatriation flight.

A video on his official social media account shows him hugging and greeting passengers. One of the men has a bloody stained t-shirt.

The caption says he met "Yaniv, who broke into the cockpit on the flight from Dubai to Israel".

"The most terrifying moment in this flight was when the pilot loses control" passenger Haim Lazarovich tells journalists as he makes his way through Ben Gurion airport.

He tells Reuters that he was with his wife and young son on the flight, and feared for their lives.

"Thank God I'm alive," he adds.

Image source, Getty Images

As passengers disembark the recovery flight from Saudi Arabia, they are being met with crowds of onlookers playing music, singing, dancing and waving Israeli flags.

The initial flight, from Dubai to Tel Aviv, was diverted to Tubak, in Saudi Arabia, for an emergency landing following the stabbing of a pilot onboard.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, APTN

Image source, Reuters

Image source, APTN

Jon Donnison
Middle East correspondent in Ben Gurion Airport

We haven't heard from relatives yet as most journalists are being kept outside at the airport, away from the relatives of those on the flights.

There's a crowd of around 100 journalists waiting outside the small terminal at the airport. The plane would normally have landed at the much-larger main terminal but it's a bit quieter here.

As around the world, this has obviously grabbed a huge amount of attention and there is a real interest to talk to the passengers on board.

Gabriela Pomeroy
Live reporter

I have just spoken to a medic who greeted the passengers off the plane.

Arye Myers from the Magen David Adom Israeli ambulance service told me he assessed passengers on the tarmac after they came down the steps from the plane.

“We met the passengers off the plane and did an initial medical assessment. They have been taken to a special terminal and are now leaving."

He says a few people have minor injuries.

"So far, just one required hospital treatment so we sent him to hospital. He was injured in the tussle on the plane and had injuries to his wrist.

"All the passengers walked off the plane under their own steam. A couple of them had some bandaging.

"A number of people were very emotional and crying as they came off the plane. You could sense the relief that they finally landed. Some of them told me it was great to be home and happy the ordeal was over."

We're now seeing images of passengers walking through the airport in Tel Aviv, after disembarking the plane that left Saudi Arabia earlier.

You can watch our coverage live at the top of the page - and we'll bring you comments from the passengers as soon as we have them.

The plane carrying the passengers of the earlier diverted Dubai to Tel Aviv flight has been pictured on the tarmac of Israel's Ben Gurion airport.

Israeli officials and security personnel can also been seen waiting at the arrivals terminal for the passengers to disembark.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reauters