Flydubai cockpit stabbing: How a pilot's fightback averted a mid-air disaster

A flydubai passenger flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after an incident in the cockpit in which a co-pilot allegedly stabbed the pilot, according to accounts given by senior Israeli officials. More than 170 people were on board. The co-pilot was taken into custody and questioned by Saudi authorities, and the airline has said the motive behind the incident is not yet known.

The sequence of events was described by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a video message. He said the co-pilot attacked the pilot and attempted to bring the aircraft down, sending it into a steep descent. According to the flight-tracking service Flightradar24, the jet plunged more than 14,000 feet (about 4,300 metres) in under 30 seconds and briefly approached the speed of sound.

Mr Netanyahu said passengers and crew entered the cockpit and helped overpower the attacker and steady the aircraft. "They prevented a huge disaster," he said at a briefing on Wednesday (September 30, 2026).

Flight-tracking data showed flight FZ1073 first transmitting the general emergency code 7700, before switching to 7500 — the code for unlawful interference and a possible hijacking — and later returning to 7700, according to Flightradar24.

The aircraft landed at Tabuk, where the co-pilot, whose identity has not been disclosed, was detained. More than ten hours later, passengers reached Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport on a replacement flydubai aircraft.

The pilot was identified by Mr Netanyahu in a post on X as Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian national. "My salute to the Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar for his extraordinary bravery," Mr Netanyahu wrote, saying that despite being stabbed and seriously injured, Captain Machchhar fought back, opened the cockpit door and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker.

The Indian Embassy in Riyadh and the Indian Consulate in Jeddah have been monitoring his health. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Captain Machchhar a "hero" and said the country was proud of his courage in helping save hundreds of lives. US President Donald Trump also described the pilot as a hero, saying the co-pilot may have been a terrorist or mentally unstable.

Israeli officials have characterised the incident as an attempted attack. Mr Netanyahu alleged that the co-pilot had intended to crash the aircraft and kill those on board, and said almost all the passengers were Israelis who had "displayed exceptional resourcefulness and courage". Israel's Foreign Ministry described the incident as "an attempted terrorist attack" aimed at damaging the country's ties with a key regional partner. Defence Minister Israel Katz called it a "jihadist terrorist attack attempt" that was thwarted by Israeli passengers.

These accounts come from Israeli and other officials and have not been independently verified. Saudi authorities have not publicly detailed the findings of their questioning, and no motive has been established. The incident comes weeks before Mr Netanyahu faces re-election, with security a prominent issue in the campaign.

Flydubai said the reasons and motive behind the incident remained unknown and that it was cooperating with the authorities. The airline has suspended its flights to Israel.