Courtesy of JTA. Photo credit: Photo by Jamal Awad/Flash90.
Passengers from Flydubai flight FZ1073 walk through Ben Gurion International Airport, after their original flight from Dubai to Israel was diverted following a suspected terror attack, September 30, 2026
(JTA)—TEL AVIV – The swift actions of passengers prevented a flydubai pilot from deliberately crashing a Tel Aviv-bound plane on Wednesday morning, Sept. 30, forcing an emergency landing at Tabuk Airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia.
One pilot stabbed another in the cockpit mid-flight, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an official video statement. One of the passengers entered the cockpit with a member of the cabin crew and restrained the alleged attacker who was attempting to interfere with the aircraft’s systems, he added.
“During the flight, as they were approaching Israel, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot and apparently attempted to crash the plane with its passengers on board,” the prime minister said.
Defense Minister Israel Katz described the incident, which occurred over Jordanian airspace, as a “jihadist terror attack.” Netanyahu called it a “serious security event” and said that nearly all of the passengers on board were Israelis.
Among the heroes who helped save the lives of the 174 passengers on board, Netanyahu said, was Captain Smit Machchhar, of India, who was stabbed by his co-pilot, a man whom Israeli and international media have identified as an Omani national.
Machchhar “fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door, and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker — preventing a catastrophic mid-air disaster,” Netanyahu wrote on social media.
Machchhar has been a pilot with flydubai since June 2022. Prior to that, he spent 11 years as a pilot with SpiceJet according to his social media account.
Saudi authorities said the two pilots were taken to a hospital after sustaining injuries, according to international media reports. Netanyahu said that the pilot accused of carrying out the stabbing was “being questioned by the Saudi authorities.”
Data from Flightradar24 showed the aircraft descending roughly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds during the incident.
The flight landed in Israel on Wednesday evening. Footage showed passengers cheering and singing “Am Yisrael Chai” as they arrived.
Netanyahu traveled to the airport to greet the passengers and met with Yaniv Hayun, who helped disarm the attacker in the cockpit. The prime minister hugged Hayun, who wore a T-shirt stained with the blood of the wounded pilot.
Hayun, who was with his wife and two daughters, sat with Netanyahu and described the incident.
Machchhar had been able to unlock the cockpit door before collapsing, Hayun explained, a critical move that allowed Hayun and others to enter.
As the first one in, Hayun said he saw the attacker trying to disable the plane’s controls to force a crash. Everything happened in seconds as the plane was beginning to dive, he said, pantomiming the descent with his hand.
“I grabbed him, placed him in a chokehold, tossed him” aside and pushed the steering control up, Hayun said. Two others helped subdue the attacker.
There were two pilots in the main cabin who then entered the cockpit, took control of the plane, stabilized it and landed it in Saudi Arabia.
Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev reportedly asked Netanyahu to immediately suspend flydubai flights to Israel until the circumstances of Wednesday’s incident are clarified, according to Israeli news outlet Ynet.
Regev said flydubai had violated the countries’ aviation agreement, which she said requires pilots operating flights to Israel to be citizens of countries with which Israel maintains diplomatic relations.
