Yesterday morning, flydubai flight FZ1073 left Dubai International Airport for Tel Aviv as a routine Abraham Accords service. About two hours later, over northern Saudi Arabia, the Boeing 737 MAX 8 plunged thousands of feet, transmitted emergency and “unlawful interference” codes, and briefly vanished from public tracking. What unfolded in the cockpit, Israeli officials later said, was an attempt to crash the aircraft.
The captain was Smit Machchhar, an Indian national and former SpiceJet pilot who joined flydubai in 2022. His co-pilot, identified by Israeli officials as an Omani national who had worked for the airline for less than a year, stabbed him and, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, tried to send the jet down with everyone on board. Flight data showed a sudden dive of roughly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds; other tracking analyses put the drop at as much as 17,000–18,000 feet within about 90 seconds as the aircraft pitched, accelerated and fought for control.
Machchhar was left on the cockpit floor, covered in blood. A Netanyahu spokesperson said he still managed to release the cockpit door. That single act let cabin crew and passengers rush in. They found the co-pilot striking at the control panel. Off-duty flydubai pilots travelling as passengers, together with Israeli travellers including Yaniv Hayoun and Tzvika Manes, overpowered the attacker and bound him with headphone cords. A second pair of company pilots then flew the damaged aircraft to Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia. All passengers were accounted for. Hours later they continued to Ben Gurion Airport on a replacement jet.
Netanyahu called Machchhar a “true hero.”
My salute to the Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar for his extraordinary bravery.
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) September 30, 2026
Despite being stabbed and seriously injured, he fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door, and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker — preventing a catastrophic mid-air…
Despite being stabbed and seriously injured, he said, the captain “fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door, and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker — preventing a catastrophic mid-air disaster.” He later told CNN that Machchhar had “managed to prevent a 9/11 disaster.” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz described the episode as an attempted jihadist terror attack. Motive, however, remains officially unconfirmed. Flydubai said the reasons were unknown and warned against “premature speculation.” Saudi authorities detained the co-pilot. Machchhar was treated in Tabuk and reported stable by the Indian embassy in Riyadh.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also saluted him. “Captain Smit Machchhar is a Hero,” Modi wrote. “In the face of the gravest danger and despite being seriously injured, he showed immense courage and an unwavering resolve to protect the lives of others.
Captain Smit Machchhar is a HERO.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 1, 2026
In the face of the gravest danger and despite being seriously injured, he showed immense courage and an unwavering resolve to protect the lives of others.
His valour helped save hundreds of lives and avert a great tragedy.
India is proud of…
His valour helped save hundreds of lives and avert a great tragedy. India is proud of Captain Machchhar.” The flight carried about 174 people, most of them Israelis, including children. Netanyahu said the captain had saved those lives.
The scare prompted Israel to tighten checks on pilots flying into the country and led flydubai to suspend services to and from Israel while investigations continue. For passengers who lived through the dive, the difference between catastrophe and a safe landing in Tabuk was a wounded captain who kept enough presence of mind to open a locked door.
