Pilot Stabbed Mid-Flight as Attacker Tries to Down Israel-Bound Jet, Netanyahu Says

A pilot aboard a Flydubai passenger jet bound for Israel was stabbed by his co-pilot in an apparent attempt to bring the aircraft down, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who described the wounded aviator as a hero whose actions averted a catastrophe in the skies.

The dramatic sequence of events unfolded on Wednesday after flight FZ1073 departed Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates at 03:05 GMT, heading for Ben-Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. The Boeing aircraft carried 174 people, the vast majority of them Israeli citizens, and was roughly two and a half hours into its journey when the situation deteriorated rapidly over Saudi Arabian territory.

According to Netanyahu, the assailant stabbed the other pilot and "apparently tried to crash the plane." The Israeli leader said passengers and crew members managed to overpower the attacker and regain control of the flight deck, allowing the aircraft to be diverted and landed safely at Tabuk airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia.

The injured pilot was identified as Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian national. He was taken to hospital following the landing and was reported to be in a stable condition. The Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia confirmed his status, saying he was receiving medical care but was stable.

Netanyahu, who spoke with the wounded captain's family, praised his conduct in glowing terms. In a post on X, the Israeli prime minister said Machchhar displayed "extraordinary bravery" by fighting back despite being stabbed and seriously injured. According to Netanyahu's account, the captain opened the cockpit door, enabling passengers and crew to subdue the attacker and prevent what he called a "catastrophic mid-air disaster." He credited the pilot with saving the lives of all 174 people on board, including Israeli citizens and other nationals.

Two on-duty Flydubai crew members who were travelling as passengers on the flight took over the controls after the attacker was restrained, according to the airline. Flydubai said in a statement that "an altercation occurred in the flight deck" and that the flight was "successfully secured by on-duty Flydubai crew travelling on the flight, who diverted and landed the aircraft safely at Tabuk airport."

The airline added that its immediate priority was ensuring the ongoing safety, health and wellbeing of everyone involved and supporting the official investigation into the incident.

Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 painted a picture of a flight in sudden distress. Roughly two and a half hours after take-off, the aircraft was recorded descending rapidly over Saudi Arabia, dropping more than 17,000 feet — over 5,000 metres — in less than two minutes. Minutes later, the plane transmitted the emergency squawk code 7700, before switching to squawk 7500, the code reserved for reporting a hijacking. Approximately 20 minutes after those signals, the aircraft turned back toward Saudi Arabia and began a manual descent for landing. Less than an hour later, it returned to squawk 7700.

Initial media reports suggested that a fight had broken out between the aircraft's two pilots, prompting the rapid descent and the diversion. However, in the hours after the plane touched down in Tabuk, eyewitness accounts and Netanyahu's statement confirmed that one pilot had stabbed the other and, according to the Israeli prime minister, had apparently sought to crash the aircraft. Netanyahu recounted that an Israeli passenger told him "the plane went into a spin and began to descend" before the passenger and a crew member entered the cockpit and overpowered the pilot who had carried out the stabbing.

Both the Israeli and Saudi Arabian air forces dispatched fighter jets in response to the emergency, while Netanyahu held urgent consultations as the situation developed. In an address on Wednesday evening, the Israeli prime minister described the events as "a very serious security incident" and said Israeli security forces were "maintaining close contact with the relevant authorities to ensure the continued safety of the passengers." He saluted what he called the heroes of the day, saying they "demonstrated extraordinary resourcefulness and courage" and "saved many lives and prevented a major disaster."

Notably, Netanyahu stopped short of assigning a motive, unlike Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, who characterised the episode as an "attempted jihadist terror attack" without providing further details. The discrepancy in messaging from senior Israeli officials left open questions about what drove the attacker, and Netanyahu told Fox News on Wednesday night that no motive had been given and that the pilot was under investigation in Saudi Arabia. He added that the suspect was expected to be taken back to the United Arab Emirates, where the flight originated, and that Israel was "likely" to contribute to the investigation.

US President Donald Trump also weighed in, saying he had spoken with Netanyahu after the incident. Trump said it appeared the attacker was "perhaps a terrorist" or that there may have been other reasons behind the attack — remarks that reflected the still-unfolding nature of the inquiry.

The passengers who had been on board flight FZ1073 arrived in Tel Aviv later on Wednesday, touching down at around 18:40 local time (15:40 GMT) on a repatriation flight. They were met at the airport by crowds of onlookers who played music, sang, danced and waved Israeli flags, turning the arrival hall into a scene of relief and celebration after a journey that had come perilously close to disaster.

The incident has focused attention on cockpit security and the safeguards meant to prevent a single crew member from seizing control of a commercial airliner. Aviation analysts note that modern flight decks are designed around the principle that two people should always be present, a rule intended to guard against exactly the kind of scenario that unfolded over Saudi Arabia. The fact that a pilot was able to attack his colleague in such a confined space, and that the aircraft was only recovered after passengers and off-duty crew intervened, is likely to prompt scrutiny of procedures at airlines operating in the region.

The episode also carries broader geopolitical significance. The flight linked Dubai, a major Gulf aviation hub, with Tel Aviv, a route that has become increasingly busy since the normalisation of relations between Israel and the UAE under the Abraham Accords. That a commercial service on this route was disrupted by an apparent attack will resonate in both capitals, as well as in Saudi Arabia, whose authorities facilitated the emergency landing at Tabuk and whose investigation will now be central to establishing what happened and why.

For the families of those on board, the focus will remain on the wounded captain and the crew members who stepped in when the situation demanded it. Netanyahu's account, echoed by the airline's statement, credits a small group of individuals with preventing a tragedy of enormous scale — a reminder of how quickly a routine flight can turn into an emergency, and how much can depend on the courage of those in the air.