One pilot 'stabbed the other' and 'apparently tried to crash' Israel-bound plane, Netanyahu says
- On Wednesday, September 30, 2026, Flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after a violent cockpit incident involving a stabbing and sudden altitude loss.
- Israeli officials allege an Omani co-pilot stabbed Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, and attempted to crash the aircraft, though Flydubai describes the event as an 'altercation' between pilots.
- Flightradar24 data shows the Boeing 737 MAX 8 dropped from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet while transmitting emergency codes 7700 and 7500, before passengers and crew intervened to neutralize the attacker.
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reported that Saudi authorities arrested the co-pilot, while injured pilots were hospitalized and Israeli warplanes briefly scrambled over hijacking fears.
- Authorities are increasing security scrutiny for Israel-bound flights, while pragmatic aviation cooperation between Israel and Saudi Arabia—which lack formal diplomatic ties—enabled the emergency landing.
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Israel PM hails Indian pilot for averting disaster
Israel's leader credited the Indian pilot of a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight, as well as the aircraft's passengers, with averting catastrophe on Wednesday after the man was attacked by his co-pilot, sparking a fight for control of the aircraft and forcing an emergency landing. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the co-pilot of the flydubai jet had been trying to crash it and kill all its passengers, with Israel's foreign ministry denouncing the inci…
Copilot stabs captain on flight to Israel before passengers storm cockpit and stabilize jetliner - WXXV News 25
By SAMY MAGDY, MELANIE LIDMAN, ISAAC SCHARF and JOSH FUNK TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A copilot stabbed a captain Wednesday on a flight to Israel before passengers burst into the cockpit and wrestled with the attacker as the plane descended sharply and passengers screamed, witnesses said. The jetliner was stabilized and made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. It...
NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (Sept. 30)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Yaniv Hayoun, the passenger who burst into the cockpit on the flight from Dubai to Israel, at Ben-Gurion International Airport southeast of Tel Aviv on Sept. 30, 2026. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)
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