In Germany, the coverage on the Welt and NTV websites stood out. The headline on NTV focused on the fight between the pilots that led to the emergency landing, but in the body of the news it was emphasized that Israel is investigating the possibility that one of the pilots tried to cause the plane to crash. Welt expanded the coverage with a report on the wounding of one of the pilots with a knife and on passengers who helped take control of the attacker, and at the same time published a separate article with the title emphasizing what is known and what is still unknown, in view of conflicting reports about the identity of the pilots and the motive.
In the UK, the Guardian followed developments with live updates. At the beginning of the event, he described an emergency landing following a confrontation between the pilots, and later highlighted the claim of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gabir that it was a terrorist who tried to cause the crash. Alongside this, the newspaper was careful to point out that the circumstances of the incident are still being investigated and that some of the details were based on Israeli reports and passenger testimonies.
In France, coverage was extensive but more careful in wording. Le Parisien, BFMTV, TF1 Info and Aust France reported an “incident” and initial suspicion of a hijacking, with BFMTV choosing a headline that focused on evidence of shouting and a fight between the pilots. Correa International has already presented in the headline the question of whether a “terrorist attack” was prevented, citing the Israeli assessment that the co-pilot tried to shoot down the plane.
In the United States, the Washington Post, CNN, CBS and Fox News presented the event first and foremost as an aviation and security crisis. The Washington Post highlighted the takeoff of the Israeli fighter jets, CNN the dive of more than 17,000 feet, and CBS and Fox the initial fear of a hijacking. The common denominator of the coverage was a gradual shift from cautious headlines about a “conflict in the cockpit” to a much more serious description, as evidence of a knife, blood and passengers taking over the suspect accumulated.
Also in terms of the location of the news, the event received significant visibility in the foreign and world news sections, but not on every website it was presented as a proven terrorist event.