Passengers and off-duty crew helped subdue the alleged attacker before the plane made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
A flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was forced into an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after one of its pilots allegedly stabbed the captain in the cockpit and attempted to bring the aircraft down, according to Israeli officials and passengers on board.
Flight FZ1073, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 carrying around 174 people, most of them Israelis, diverted to Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk, in north-western Saudi Arabia, on 30 September. No passengers were hurt.
What happened on board.
Flight-tracking data showed the aircraft first broadcasting the general emergency code 7700 and, minutes later, switching to 7500, the code pilots use to signal unlawful interference with a flight. The emergency unfolded as the plane crossed Jordanian airspace on its approach to Israel.
Passengers described hearing a struggle near the front of the cabin before the jet suddenly lost thousands of feet of altitude within a couple of minutes, sending people into a panic.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, relaying the account of a passenger he spoke with, said the plane began to dive before a crew member and passengers forced their way into the cockpit. There, he said, they found the co-pilot tampering with the aircraft’s systems and restrained him. Off-duty pilots travelling on the flight then took control and landed the plane safely, according to the airline and officials.
Netanyahu described the event as a “highly severe security incident” and credited the wounded pilot with preventing a far worse outcome.
The pilots
Netanyahu named the injured pilot as Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian national. A doctor who treated him said he had lost a large amount of blood and was seriously wounded. Machchhar is being widely praised as a hero in India.
Israeli officials say the suspected attacker is the flight’s first officer, an Omani national. He has not been publicly named. Saudi authorities arrested him after landing and are questioning him. Both pilots were taken to the hospital at Tabuk Airport.
Questions over motive
Israeli leaders have described the incident as terrorism. Defense Minister Israel Katz called it an attempted jihadist attack, and Netanyahu said the co-pilot had been radicalized. A senior U.S. official and a Saudi official, both briefed on the inquiry, told NBC News that early findings increasingly point to a terrorist act.
Flydubai confirmed that an altercation took place on the flight deck and that the aircraft landed safely but said the reasons and motives remain unknown and are under formal investigation. The airline has not endorsed Israel’s characterization of events.
Investigation and response
The inquiry spans several countries. Saudi Arabia holds the suspect; the United Arab Emirates, where the airline is based, is expected to lead the formal air-safety investigation; and Israel’s Transport Ministry says it is investigating alongside its security agencies.
Passengers spent around eight hours on the ground in Tabuk before continuing to Tel Aviv on a replacement Flydubai aircraft. Flydubai has temporarily suspended all flights to and from Israel while the investigation continues.
This is a developing story that will be updated as more information becomes available.
