Passengers Describe Mid-Air Struggle After Flydubai Co-Pilot Stabs Captain

A sudden, violent descent

Flydubai flight FZ1073, carrying 174 people from Dubai to Tel Aviv, plunged nearly 14,000 feet in under 30 seconds on Tuesday after the co-pilot stabbed the captain mid-flight. Passengers and crew stormed the cockpit, overpowered the attacker, and a backup pair of flydubai pilots who happened to be aboard took over and landed the aircraft safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

The captain, identified as Indian national Smit Machchhar, was found bloodied on the cockpit floor after managing to release the cockpit door despite his injuries, giving passengers the chance to intervene.

Passengers who stepped in

Passenger Asaf Rajuan helped physically restrain the attacker during the struggle. Another passenger, Yaniv Hayun, broke into the cockpit to help bring the situation under control; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later greeted him at the airport, hugging him and calling him "a lion."

The co-pilot, identified as an Omani national, was arrested by Saudi authorities for interrogation following the landing. A 51-year-old passenger was hospitalized in what officials described as mild condition.

More than ten hours to get home

Most of the passengers aboard were Israeli nationals. It took more than ten hours after the diversion before they finally reached Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport, flying the rest of the way on a replacement aircraft. Passenger Lital Shachaf described the ordeal afterward: "It was a miracle. We didn't think we will make it."

The aftermath

In the wake of the incident, Netanyahu ordered tighter security checks on all pilots flying into Israel. In follow-up comments the next day, he went further, saying the co-pilot had undergone what he described as radical Islamist indoctrination, raising the incident from an isolated act of violence to a broader security concern for Israeli-bound flights. Investigations into exactly what triggered the attack, and how the co-pilot came to be in that state, remain ongoing.