Flydubai co-pilot stabbed captain on Tel Aviv-bound flight, Netanyahu says

A flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, on Sept. 30 after the co-pilot stabbed the captain and tried to crash the aircraft, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said — while passengers and other crew helped restrain the attacker and land the plane safely. Israeli officials briefed that flight FZ1073 transmitted emergency signals, including one indicating possible unlawful interference, as it flew over Jordanian airspace. Reuters reported that Netanyahu described passengers holding the co-pilot down while other pilots landed the jet; Tabuk airport said both pilots were hospitalised. Israeli officials speaking anonymously characterised the episode as a possible attempted “terror attack,” though a Netanyahu office spokesperson earlier told Reuters it was not believed to have been a hijacking in the conventional sense. Indian media and officials later identified the injured captain as Indian national Smit Machchhar; an Israeli official identified the attacker as an Omani national. Flydubai said on-duty crew travelling on the flight secured the aircraft and diverted it, urged against premature speculation, and said motives were under formal investigation. Saudi authorities took the co-pilot into custody after landing; Saudi Arabia separately turned down an Israeli request to send aircraft to collect Israeli passengers, according to security sources cited by Reuters, and passengers were expected to continue on flydubai aircraft. The near-catastrophe — a cockpit knife attack on a route carrying many Israeli passengers — sharpens aviation-security scrutiny of two-crew dynamics and diversion protocols even as investigators sort terror claims from still-incomplete public evidence. Sources: Reuters; The Indian Express; India Today.