World media lead with Fly Dubai attack, avoid "terror" label

The attempted terror attack and hijacking aboard the Fly Dubai flight from Dubai has not gone unnoticed in the international press, though it appears to have taken foreign reporters some time to grasp the scale of the incident.

The event, still not labeled a "terror attack" on foreign news sites, is nonetheless the lead story on the New York Times, the world's most influential newspaper, with a live updating headline.

Headline: "Pilot May Have Tried to Crash Flight to Israel, Netanyahu Says."

Subheadline: "Passengers intervened and 'prevented a disaster' after one pilot stabbed another during a flight from Dubai, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said."

The Associated Press also chose to quote Netanyahu's statement without labeling the incident as terror.

Headline: "Pilot on flight carrying Israelis stabs another pilot and apparently tried to crash, Netanyahu says."

Subheadline: "The confrontation between the two pilots, one of whom was armed with a knife, caused the Fly Dubai plane to drop suddenly by nearly 17,000 feet in about a minute before it eventually landed."

The story also appears as the lead item on the AP's main site, with live updates.

CNN

Headline: "Flight to Israel may have tried to crash, Netanyahu says."

Subheadline: "Images of bloodied passengers emerge as plane plunges 17,000 feet after one pilot stabs another, Israeli leader says."

Reuters

Headline: "Netanyahu says one pilot arrested after confrontation on Fly Dubai flight to Israel."

Subheadline: "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a passenger told him that one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot and tried to crash the plane, and called for following the latest developments."

Alan Silver News added:

How low can one go by being dishonest?

The BBC calling the attempt to highjack an aircraft and to attempt to kill everyone on board an "altercation". And then even gets the name of the airport wrong by calling it the "Ben Gvir Airport".

The BBC - the dregs of journalism.

The common thread across all four major outlets is that the incident is being covered as the lead story, in a "live" format, as new details emerge rapidly.

As to whether this was a terror attack, the outlets remain cautious despite Defense Minister Israel Katz's statement that it was indeed a jihadist act.

The New York Times, for instance, noted that "much of the episode, including the cause of the confrontation, remained unclear. Israeli authorities were investigating whether it was an attempted attack against Israelis or a suicide attempt, among other possibilities, according to several Israeli officials, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity in keeping with government protocol.

A spokesman for FlyDubai said a fight had broken out and that crew members on duty had secured the aircraft.

Passengers described a brawl that ended when some of them stepped in. Videos on social media, which appeared to have been filmed from inside the plane, showed one person injured and others on deck covered in blood."