A dramatic mid-flight crisis unfolded on a Flydubai commercial flight traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv earlier this week, when the aircraft’s co-pilot launched a sudden, violent attack on the captain in an attempt to seize control of the plane carrying more than 170 passengers and crew. The United Arab Emirates’ top prosecutor confirmed the attacker used a standard emergency crash axe stored in the cockpit to assault the flight’s commander, Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian national.
Roughly two and a half hours into the scheduled journey, the assault sent the plane into a terrifying 17,000-foot nosedive, triggering emergency transponder codes: first the general emergency signal 7700, followed by 7500, the international code for unlawful interference or hijacking. Despite suffering multiple stab wounds and being left lying on the cockpit floor injured, Captain Machchhar refused to surrender control of the downing aircraft. In a first-hand account of the incident, he recalled, “I told myself to go for one last push to open the door from inside,” a critical action that allowed passengers and backup pilots to reach the cockpit and intervene.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog detailed how the alarm was first raised by Tali Manes, an Israeli passenger who heard the chaotic struggle coming from the locked cockpit. Once Captain Machchhar managed to pry the door open, Manes’ husband Zvika, alongside three other Israeli passengers — Yaniv Hayun, Dr. Shota Musayev and Asaf Rajuan — rushed into the cockpit to subdue the attacker. Hayun, in an official video released by the Israeli Prime Minister’s office, explained that the attacker was actively attempting to destroy cockpit instruments to disable the plane. Hayun grabbed the attacker in a chokehold, dragged him out of the cockpit, and other passengers assisted in restraining him, using the attacker’s own zip ties and in-flight multimedia headphone cables to secure him. Hayun also adjusted the plane’s controls to steady its descent before two off-duty reserve pilots on board took over full control of the aircraft and diverted it to a safe landing in Saudi Arabia.
One passenger, Almog Itali, described the terrifying experience to the BBC, comparing the rapid descent to a rollercoaster drop. “Suddenly the aeroplane started to, like a rollercoaster, to drop down with a massive G-force. It was falling down for 20 or 30 seconds, rapidly, and then balanced, and then started once again to fall down,” he said.
According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the attacker is an Omani national. After he was subdued, Netanyahu told Fox News the attacker repeatedly shouted “Kill me, kill me!” to the crew, leading Netanyahu to conclude “it’s clear that he was suicidal… It looks very likely that he was going to down the plane.” Netanyahu also added that the attacker “underwent Islamist radical indoctrination.” The UAE’s state news agency confirmed that authorities have launched an investigation to determine whether the incident was linked to any terrorist organization or extremist activity, with the country’s attorney general noting that investigations are still ongoing to establish the full circumstances and underlying motives of the attack.
Following the successful landing, Captain Machchhar was first transported to a nearby medical facility for urgent treatment, then airlifted to Abu Dhabi for further care. The Indian Embassy in the UAE released a statement Thursday confirming the captain is in stable condition, and that he is “in good health and recovering well.” In his own public comment on the incident, Machchhar expressed confidence in his recovery, saying “I am confident that the recovery will be there and I will become fit and healthy again.”
The Indian government has publicly commended Captain Machchhar for his extraordinary bravery in the face of danger, praising his “immense courage” that saved the lives of everyone on board. Netanyahu echoed that praise Wednesday during an interview with CNN, saying the injured captain, quick-thinking passengers, and backup crew had “managed to prevent a 9/11 disaster.”