New Delhi: A routine Dubai-Tel Aviv flight made dramatic headlines Wednesday, with initial reports talking about the aircraft plunging thousands of feet, emitting a hijacking signal that led to Israel scrambling its jets, and the day culminating with the heroic story of an Indian pilot fighting off his colleague who stabbed him and landing safely in Saudi Arabia.
The Indian pilot has been identified as Smit Machchhar, seen covered in blood in striking visuals. Formerly with SpiceJet, Machchhar bravely attempted to hold back his co-pilot brandishing a knife and got injured in the process. He then managed to make an emergency landing in Riyadh’s Tabuk airport.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement describing the “serious security incident”.
“Almost all the passengers on the flight were Israelis. During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the second pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board,” he said. Israel identified the co-pilot as an Omani national.
“I spoke with one of the Israeli passengers. He told me that the plane went into a spin and began to dive. He told me that, somehow or other, he managed to break into the cockpit with one of the crew members, and that together they neutralised the stabbing pilot while he was trying to sabotage the plane’s systems. Another flight crew on board entered the cockpit and managed to stabilise the plane,” Netanyahu said, adding that he “salutes these heroes” who “saved many lives and prevented a huge disaster”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
"This morning, there was a serious security incident on a flight from Dubai to Israel. Almost all the passengers on the flight were Israelis. During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the second pilot, and… pic.twitter.com/PrK7f7gS1P
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) September 30, 2026
The pilot who stabbed Machchhar was arrested and is being interrogated by the Saudi authorities, the Israeli PM said.
What happened?
Initial reports said the Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv made erratic altitude changes when the pilots had a fight in the cockpit, leading the aircraft to plunge thousands of feet in a matter of seconds.
Flydubai said the aircraft had “experienced an incident while en route” and landed safely with all passengers safe and accounted for.
According to reports, the plane transmitted an emergency alert shortly after takeoff. Flight-tracking data showed that it then dropped dramatically in altitude—from nearly 34,000 feet at 5.21 am GMT to below 17,000 feet a minute later. Israel scrambled its fighter jets to respond to what initially seemed to be a hijacking attempt.
Israeli officials later said the incident appeared to have been caused by an altercation between the pilots rather than a hijacking.
Passengers aboard the flight told Israel’s Channel 12 that they heard shouting from the front of the aircraft and what sounded like a physical confrontation. They also described the plane dipping sharply before the landing in Saudi Arabia. Other passenger accounts described screams and blood inside the aircraft.
Israeli media also published a photograph purportedly taken inside the plane that appeared to show a passenger wearing a blood-soaked shirt. It could not be verified.
The aircraft had initially transmitted a general emergency signal while flying over Jordanian airspace and later issued another alert indicating possible “unlawful interference”, according to flight-tracking information.
By the time the aircraft reached Saudi Arabia, however, the immediate crisis appeared to be over. The plane landed safely at Tabuk.
Israel then faced an unusual logistical problem—getting its citizens home from Saudi Arabia.
“The incident is under control, and all measures are currently being deployed in order to return the Israeli passengers safely to Israel,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
The Israeli military said its chief of general staff, Eyal Zamir, held an assessment with senior officers following the incident. The United Arab Emirates and Israel normalised diplomatic ties in 2020, and the UAE has since become a popular destination for Israeli tourists.
Flydubai, the low-cost sister airline of Emirates, operates an all-Boeing 737 fleet. The airline has nearly 100 aircraft, including 69 Boeing 737 Max 8s, according to reports.
The incident also produced a brief second mystery. For a time, flight-tracking data appeared to show another Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, FZ1081, changing course and turning back toward Dubai. Reports of a second diversion quickly began circulating.
But there was no second emergency. The apparent change in FZ1081’s route was caused by a glitch in flight-tracking data, according to The Times of Israel. The aircraft had not transmitted an emergency signal and was continuing toward Tel Aviv on its normal route.
“A recovery flight is now en route to Tabuk to pick up passengers from flight #FZ1073 and take them to Tel Aviv,” FlightRadar posted on X.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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