A British pilot has been hailed as a ‘hero’ for helping rescue a plane after its pilot was stabbed by a colleague in the cockpit during a flight to Israel. Passengers and crew subdued the alleged attacker as the FlyDubai aircraft dropped from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet (10,000 metres to 5,100 metres) in about a minute on Wednesday morning (September 30).
Emergency landing in Saudi Arabia
Travelling from the United Arab Emirates to Tel Aviv and carrying dozens of passengers, the aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. It is suspected the pilot attempted to crash the plane.
Almog Itali, a passenger on the flight, told the media that one of the off-duty pilots onboard who stabilised the plane was British. In a translated clip on the BBC, Mr Itali said: “There were two pilots in the front, one stabbed the other, and there were two spare pilots who were supposed to operate the next flight.
“The relief pilots are European, one of them British, who entered (the cockpit) and pulled the aircraft up, pulled the yoke, stabilised the plane and landed us in Saudi Arabia.”
Captain injured in attack
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that Saudi Arabia has arrested the pilot of a FlyDubai flight. Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar was the man who was stabbed in the cockpit.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X: “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 valor helped save hundreds of lives and avert a great tragedy.”
According to publicly available flight tracking information, the plane sent an emergency alert around two and a half hours after leaving Dubai. It then descended abruptly before making an erratic circle close to the Jordanian border and landing in Tabuk about an hour later.
Investigation and suspended flights
Footage of the incident has been circulating on social media, showing two men on the floor of the plane with bloody wounds, while two others guarded the cockpit and the injured pair received emergency medical treatment. A FlyDubai spokesperson said: “An altercation occurred in the flight deck of flight FZ 1073, operating from Dubai International to Ben Gurion International Airport, on September 30.
“The aircraft was successfully secured by on-duty FlyDubai crew travelling on the flight, who diverted and landed the aircraft safely at Tabuk Airport. All passengers and crew are safe and accounted for. We have deployed two replacement aircraft to Tabuk to relieve the passengers and crew. This incident has no impact on other scheduled operations across the FlyDubai network.”
On Thursday morning (October 1) FlyDubai said its flights to and from Israel would be suspended while an investigation into the incident takes place. They added that at this stage the ‘underlying reasons and motives’ for the attack are unknown.
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said there was ‘no doubt’ that the FlyDubai pilot was attempting to bring down the plane, stating: “We have no doubt that it was a terror attack of a radical individual. We know that there was an intention to bring that plane down, and we are grateful.”
