Pilot stabs co-pilot in attempted hijacking of Israel flight – before hero passengers avert disaster

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A pilot who stabbed his co-pilot on a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv in an attempted hijacking wanted to crash the plane and kill everyone on board, Israel has said.

Israeli intelligence believe the pilot is an Omani jihadist who wanted to carry out a midair terror attack, which was only prevented by the brave intervention of passengers on the Flydubai flight. An off-duty British pilot also stepped in to help land the plane safely in Saudi Arabia after chaos broke out in the cabin on Wednesday.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday named the pilot attacked on the flight as Captain Smit Machchhar, and praised his “extraordinary bravery” for opening the cockpit door while heavily bleeding.

With their clothes still covered in blood, a number of the 180 people on board described the terrifying ordeal after the plane veered off course and dramatically descended around 17,000 feet in two minutes.

Flight FZ1073 passengers managed to overpower the attacker, “narrowly avoiding a major disaster”, an Israeli official said. They broke into the cockpit with members of the crew after the aircraft entered a tailspin, only to find the co-pilot trying to sabotage the systems.

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“We’re here during the hijacking of an airplane,” said one passenger with blood running down his face, in a plea posted to social media during the melee.

“At this point we’ve subdued the terrorists, we’re approaching landing. Whoever is hearing me, we need help.”

Yasmin Abu Kasis, the mother of one of the passengers, said her daughter Miriam heard screaming and saw a man with a knife put the pilot on the floor, with blood everywhere.

“The plane start to lose control. So all the people, they scream,” she told The Associated Press.

Cpt Machchhar, covered with blood and lying on the floor, had managed to click open the release on the cockpit door so help could get through.

“Someone shouted ‘stabbing’ and my husband immediately understood what was happening and rushed to the front of the plane, and along with other Israelis they neutralised the terrorist,” Meital, a passenger whose husband was involved in the onboard brawl, told Israel’s Channel 12.

“There were stabbings and a lot of blood. We’re very emotional and under terrible stress; it’s very difficult for me to talk,” she added.

In a post on X, Netanyahu said Cpt Machchhar was a “true hero”.

“Despite being stabbed and seriously injured, he fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door, and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker.”

Graphic footage from inside the flight shows the two pilots covered in blood and wearing gas masks in the aftermath of the horrifying incident.

A second set of pilots on board, who were due to replace the first pair, landed the plane safely at Tabuk Airport in northeastern Saudi Arabia.

One passenger, Almog Itali, told reporters that one of the pilots who stabilised the plane was British.

“There were two pilots in the front, one stabbed the other, and there were two spare pilots who were supposed to operate the next flight,” he said.

“The relief pilots are European, one of them British, who entered (the cockpit) and pulled the aircraft up, pulled the yoke, stabilised the plane and landed us in Saudi Arabia.”

A spokesperson for the Saudi airport said both the wounded pilot and co-pilot involved were hospitalised after the plane landed. The passengers were greeted by their friends and family later on Wednesday when they finally arrived at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said one pilot has been arrested and was being interrogated by Saudi authorities, after stabbing his Emirati colleague and allegedly trying to crash the plane.

“I salute these heroes who demonstrated extraordinary resourcefulness and courage,” the prime minister said. “They saved many lives and prevented a major disaster.”

Defence minister Israeli Katz described the incident as a “jihadi terrorist attack attempt”.

However, the airline said in a statement that the underlying reasons for the event remained unknown and warned against premature speculation. The cause of the violent altercation between the pilots is not yet clear.

Katz said the attack was “thwarted only thanks to the bravery of several Israeli passengers, who broke into the cockpit, overpowered the terrorist and, with their own hands, restored control of the plane to another flight crew who was present there”.

Netanyahu has ordered tighter security on both Israeli and non-Israeli carriers flying into the country, amid ongoing tensions in the region due to the war with Iran.

The incident has also further heightened security fears weeks before Israelis vote in the first election since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks.

Israel’s national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir spoke of “a terrorist who planned to crash a plane and murder the 180 Israelis on board”, using the incident to call for continued military action in “Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, and Judea and Samaria [the West Bank]”.

“Terrorism is a devil with whom no agreement must be reached,” he added.

A spokesperson for Flydubai told The Independent that an “altercation occurred in the flight deck” before the aircraft was “secured by on-duty Flydubai crew”.

“Everyone onboard is safe and accounted for and will be picked up by two replacement aircraft that have been sent to Tabuk,” it said, adding that the motives remain unknown and “subject to a formal investigation”.

Flydubai operates daily flights between Dubai and ‌Tel Aviv, a route that is popular ⁠among Israeli nationals.

A second Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, flight FZ1081, also diverted and headed back to Dubai, according to FlightRadar. It is unclear whether this was precautionary or the result of the initial incident.

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