Pilots of Dubai–Tel Aviv Flight Now Required to Fly in Separate Aircraft After Mid-Air Knife Duel
Following a cockpit knife fight over Saudi Arabia, Emirates and Omani aviation authorities have ordered that all future Dubai–Tel Aviv flights be operated by two aircraft flying in parallel, with pilots communicating only by hand signals.
DUBAI — All flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv will now be operated by two separate aircraft flying in parallel formation, after an Emirates pilot and an Omani co-pilot engaged in a knife duel at 11,000 metres that ended with both men wrestling for the controls while passengers watched on the cabin screens.
The new timetable, effective immediately, requires each pilot to command a single-seat jet, with a third empty plane flying between them to carry the flight attendants and the drinks trolley. «We have determined that the safest distance between an Emirati and an Omani in a cockpit is one full wingspan,» said a spokesman for the Gulf Aviation Safety Council. «The parallel formation also improves fuel efficiency, because neither pilot can reach the other's throat.»
Under the revised procedure, take-off is staggered by ninety seconds, and the two aircraft must maintain radio silence except for a single daily hand signal transmitted via a mirror mounted on the wingtip. Passengers are issued with a colour-coded wristband indicating which plane they would have been on under the old system, and a commemorative certificate signed by the captain who did not attempt to crash the aircraft.
The first parallel flight landed in Tel Aviv on Tuesday with both jets intact, though the pilot of the left-hand aircraft refused to look at the pilot of the right-hand aircraft during the entire descent. A follow-up review is scheduled for next month, when authorities will consider whether to extend the separation to flights between Dubai and Amman.
18