Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian pilot with Flydubai, was stabbed in the cockpit of flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv on 30 September 2026. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that despite being seriously injured, he fought back, opened the cockpit door and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker, saving 174 people. The Boeing 737 Max 8 made an emergency landing in Tabuk, northwestern Saudi Arabia. A motive has not been established.
Key facts at a glance
- Flight: Flydubai FZ1073, Dubai to Tel Aviv, 30 September 2026
- Aircraft: Boeing 737 Max 8
- Captain: Smit Machchhar, Indian national, reported stable after surgery
- Suspect: The co-pilot, described by Israeli officials as an Omani national and arrested by Saudi authorities
- Landing: Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
- Status: Motive unconfirmed, joint investigation under way, Flydubai Israel flights suspended
What happened on Flydubai FZ1073? A timeline
Times differ by a few minutes between outlets, so the sequence below uses Al Jazeera’s GMT timeline and flags the differences.
- Departure: The flight left Dubai at 03:05 GMT and climbed to 34,000 feet, according to Flightradar24.
- The plunge: Altitude began fluctuating around 05:21 GMT. About a minute later, the aircraft dropped more than 14,000 feet in under 30 seconds. The Times of Israel put the drop at 34,000 feet to around 17,000 feet, and the plane sped up from 411 knots to nearly 600.
- Emergency codes: The transponder switched to 7700 (general emergency), then to 7500 (unlawful interference) at about 05:38 GMT. Another timeline places the 7700 signal slightly earlier, at 05:28 GMT.
- Distress call: Tabuk air traffic control received a distress call at 05:44 GMT requesting an emergency landing.
- Hand-flown descent: For about an hour, the aircraft could not hold a steady altitude and stayed near 15,000 feet, which suggests manual control.
- Landing: CNN reported a touchdown at 9:54 a.m. local time at Tabuk.
- Return to Israel: A Flydubai rescue flight carrying the passengers reached Ben Gurion Airport at 15:34 GMT.
Israel’s response was immediate. Israeli Air Force jets were scrambled, and Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz held emergency consultations. One report said the jets were airborne within roughly five minutes of the hijack-code report.
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How was the attack stopped?
Accounts differ on the details, and no single official version exists yet.
Netanyahu’s account. Netanyahu said the co-pilot apparently intended to bring the aircraft down as it approached Israel, and that most passengers were Israeli. He later said a passenger and a crew member broke into the cockpit and neutralised the pilot who had carried out the stabbing while he tried to sabotage the aircraft’s systems.
Passenger testimony.
- Yaniv Hayoun told Netanyahu he put the alleged attacker in a chokehold, pulled him out of the cockpit, then returned to take control of the aircraft.
- Al Jazeera reports he pulled the controls back, as he had seen done on television, until crew members took over.
- Passenger Tzvika Manes described a crew member entering the cockpit and removing the co-pilot, while he and two other Israelis tied the man up with airline headphones.
- Asaf Rajuan, who helped restrain the attacker, said it was something done without thinking, driven by the instinct to protect family.
Flydubai’s version. The airline said on-duty crew members travelling on the flight successfully secured the aircraft and landed it at Tabuk. Axios noted that this conflicts with reports that Israeli security personnel and air marshals intervened, and that their identities have not been disclosed.
Trump’s version. Donald Trump said an Israeli plumber who had never flown a plane levelled it out. That is a secondhand account, and it is not corroborated by the other reporting.
Who is Captain Smit Machchhar?
Machchhar is a direct-entry captain with Flydubai, with more than 13 years of commercial flying and 9,750 hours, mostly on Boeing 737s. Before that he spent 11 years at SpiceJet as a Line Training Captain. He is of Gujarati origin and joined Flydubai in June 2022.
On his condition, i24NEWS reported that he underwent surgery and is in stable condition. India’s embassy in Riyadh said he was in a Tabuk hospital receiving necessary medical attention and was reported stable.
How did world leaders react?
- Netanyahu: He saluted Machchhar’s extraordinary bravery on X, said he saved 174 lives including Israeli citizens and other nationals, and wished him a speedy and full recovery.
- Narendra Modi: He called Machchhar a hero, said India is proud of him and said his valour helped save hundreds of lives.
- Donald Trump: He called the pilot a hero in a way for opening the door and praised passenger Yaniv Hayoun’s intervention.
- Israel’s Foreign Ministry: It stressed that Indian, Israeli and Emirati people together saved 174 lives.
- Indian diplomats: India’s embassies in France and Israel and its ambassador to the US all paid tribute to his courage.
- Defense Minister Katz: He called it an attempted jihadist terror attack stopped by the heroism of several Israeli passengers. That is an Israeli official’s characterisation, not a finding by an independent investigator.
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Why did opening the cockpit door matter?
Cockpit doors are built to keep intruders out. That protection becomes a trap when the person inside is hurt and the other pilot is the threat. Machchhar’s act put the decision in the hands of people who could physically stop the attacker. The Times of Israel’s David Horovitz wrote that there appears to be no prior instance of passengers thwarting a pilot’s attempt to crash a commercial airliner. That is an editorial judgement, not an official record.
What are the security consequences?
Pilot vetting. A spokesman for Netanyahu said Israel will know the identities of every pilot flying in and do some type of security check. He said Netanyahu told authorities to ramp up security on flights operated by Israeli and non-Israeli carriers.
The foreign-carrier gap. The Times of Israel’s analysis found that Israel cannot mandate air marshals, cockpit security or pre-boarding checks on foreign carriers. An Israeli air security professional also said Israel cannot limit the nationality of foreign pilots who stay on the plane. Aviation security expert Dave Komendat said the alleged involvement of a crew member makes the incident particularly unusual.
Flights suspended. Flydubai temporarily suspended flights to and from Israel during the investigation. Transportation Minister Miri Regev had asked Netanyahu to suspend the flights and to examine whether Israel–UAE aviation agreements were violated. Flydubai’s willingness to keep serving Israel through regional conflict had made it a fixture at Ben Gurion Airport.
The US view. The US Homeland Security Secretary said there were no credible threats to the United States and that aviation security officials were reviewing procedures.
What is still unknown?
| Question | What the Reporting Says |
|---|---|
| Motive | Flydubai said the motive is unknown and remains subject to a formal investigation. |
| Co-pilot’s Identity | Al Jazeera says he remains unidentified. Israeli officials describe him as an Omani national. |
| Weapon | Authorities have not publicly identified the weapon or explained how it got aboard. |
| Charges | No charges or official findings have been published. |
| Passenger Numbers | Netanyahu’s figure is 174. The Jerusalem Post reported about 180 passengers, including more than 100 Israelis. Reuters, via Fox News, said more than 170 were Israelis. |
| Who Landed the Plane | Flydubai credits the on-duty crew. Other reports credit off-duty pilots or passengers. |
| Early Reporting Errors | An early Times of Israel report called the captain an Emirati citizen. Later reporting identified him as Indian. |
The incident also came a day after Netanyahu warned of possible attacks before Israel’s 27 October election. Opposition leader Yair Lapid rejected attempts to link the two. No reporting so far shows a connection.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Smit Machchhar?
He is an Indian captain with Flydubai who was in command of FZ1073 and was stabbed in the cockpit. He has more than 13 years of experience and previously flew for SpiceJet.
What did Netanyahu say about him?
Netanyahu praised his extraordinary bravery. He said Machchhar fought back, opened the cockpit door and helped passengers and crew overpower the attacker, saving 174 lives.
Where did FZ1073 land?
It landed at Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia. The passengers were flown on to Tel Aviv later that day.
Was it a hijacking?
Hijack code 7500 was transmitted, and Israeli officials call it a terror attack. Israeli authorities first treated it as a hijacking, then concluded the alert was apparently triggered by violence between the pilots. There is no official finding yet.
Is Captain Machchhar safe?
He is reported to be in stable condition after surgery in Saudi Arabia.
Has Flydubai stopped flying to Israel?
It temporarily suspended flights to and from Israel while it investigates.
What happens next?
Saudi, Israeli and airline investigators are examining the case. Flydubai said it would comment after studying the cockpit voice recorder.
