Pilot Arrested After Mid-Air Stabbing on Dubai-Tel Aviv Flight; Hero Captain Credited With Preventing Disaster

A pilot has been taken into custody after he attacked his fellow pilot aboard a Flydubai passenger jet travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, an incident Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said appeared to be an attempt to bring the aircraft down. The dramatic sequence of events unfolded in the skies over Saudi Arabia, forcing an emergency diversion that ended with the plane landing safely but leaving more than 170 passengers shaken and a wounded captain hailed as a hero.

The flight, designated FZ1073, departed Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates at 03:05 GMT, bound for Ben-Gurion Airport in Israel. According to the Israeli prime minister, the assailant stabbed the other pilot and "apparently tried to crash the plane." Passengers and crew members intervened, subduing the attacker and regaining control of the cockpit, allowing the aircraft to be diverted to Tabuk airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia, where it landed without further incident.

The injured pilot was identified as Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian national. He was rushed to hospital following the landing and was reported to be in stable condition. The Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia confirmed his status, saying he was receiving medical care and was stable.

Netanyahu praised Machchhar in glowing terms, calling him a "true hero" who displayed "extraordinary bravery" in the face of grave danger. Writing on the social media platform X, the Israeli leader said that despite being stabbed and seriously wounded, the captain fought back, resisted his attacker, opened the cockpit door, and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the assailant. "He saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals," Netanyahu said, adding that a catastrophic mid-air disaster had been averted.

The incident began roughly two and a half hours into the flight, when flight tracking data from Flightradar24 recorded a rapid descent over Saudi Arabian airspace. The aircraft dropped more than 17,000 feet — over 5,000 metres — in less than two minutes. Shortly afterwards, the plane transmitted an emergency squawk code 7700, signalling a general emergency. Minutes later, the transponder was switched to squawk 7500, the internationally recognised code indicating a hijacking.

Roughly twenty minutes after those signals were sent, the aircraft turned back into Saudi Arabia and began a manual descent towards landing. Less than an hour later, the plane reverted to squawk 7700. The sequence of codes painted a picture of a flight in extreme distress, with the crew signalling both a general emergency and a hijacking scenario as the situation unfolded.

In response to the unfolding crisis, the Israeli and Saudi Arabian air forces dispatched fighter jets, according to reports. Netanyahu convened urgent consultations as the gravity of the incident became clear. The rapid military response underscored the sensitivity of the situation, given the flight's origin, destination, and the large number of Israeli citizens on board.

Initial media reports had suggested that a fight had broken out between the aircraft's two pilots, leading to the steep descent and emergency landing. However, as the hours passed, eyewitness accounts and a statement from Netanyahu confirmed a far more sinister chain of events: one pilot had stabbed the other and, according to the Israeli prime minister, had apparently attempted to crash the aircraft.

Netanyahu said an Israeli passenger told him that "the plane went into a spin and began to descend" before the passenger and a crew member broke into the cockpit and overpowered the "pilot who had carried out the stabbing." Two on-duty crew members who were travelling on the flight then took control and landed the plane safely, Flydubai said in a statement.

The airline confirmed that "an altercation occurred in the flight deck" and that the flight was "successfully secured by on-duty Flydubai crew travelling on the flight, who diverted and landed the aircraft safely at Tabuk airport." A spokesperson added that the airline's immediate priority was ensuring the ongoing safety, health, and wellbeing of all passengers and crew involved, and supporting the official investigation.

No official motive for the attack has been provided. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz described the incident as an "attempted jihadist terror attack," a characterization that Netanyahu did not repeat in his public remarks. US President Donald Trump said he had spoken with Netanyahu following the incident, noting that it seemed as though the attacker was "perhaps a terrorist" or that other reasons might lie behind the attack.

The passengers, who were almost all Israeli, were later flown to Tel Aviv on a repatriation flight, arriving at around 18:40 local time. They were greeted at Ben-Gurion Airport by crowds of onlookers playing music, singing, dancing, and waving Israeli flags. A paramedic from Israel's ambulance service told the BBC that a number of people were "very emotional and crying as they came off the plane."

One passenger, Yaniv Hayun, met Netanyahu and recounted how he and others on the flight had restrained the attacker. The prime minister, in an address on Wednesday evening, described the situation as "a very serious security incident" and said Israeli security forces were "maintaining close contact with the relevant authorities to ensure the continued safety of the passengers." He saluted the heroes involved, saying they "demonstrated extraordinary resourcefulness and courage" and "saved many lives and prevented a major disaster."

The incident has raised urgent questions about aviation security, particularly regarding the screening and psychological evaluation of flight crew members who are entrusted with access to the cockpit. The fact that an attacker was able to carry a weapon onto the flight deck and assault a fellow pilot mid-flight has prompted concerns about the adequacy of existing protocols for preventing such insider threats. Investigators are expected to examine how the weapon was brought on board and what factors may have motivated the attack.

The role of the passengers and crew who intervened has been widely commended. Their quick thinking and willingness to confront the attacker in the confined space of a cockpit, at altitude and with the aircraft plunging, likely made the difference between a safe landing and a catastrophe. The cooperation between Israeli and Saudi authorities, including the permission for the aircraft to land in Saudi territory and the subsequent repatriation of passengers, also highlighted a degree of regional coordination in the face of an emergency.

As the investigation continues, the focus will turn to the arrested pilot, whose identity and possible affiliations have not been officially disclosed. Authorities in multiple countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, are expected to be involved in piecing together the events that led to the stabbing and the attempted downing of the aircraft. For now, the passengers of Flight FZ1073 have returned home, and the wounded captain remains hospitalised but stable, credited with saving 174 lives through what Netanyahu called an act of extraordinary bravery.