The date 30th of September 2026 will be etched in history as a brave Indian pilot, Smit Machchhar, saved 174 passengers and 6 crew members aboard a Tel Aviv-bound Flydubai flight FZ1073 from a deliberate crash by the Omani pilot. After the Omani Muslim first officer stabbed the Indian captain and attempted to crash the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, the accused pilot was neutralised by passengers and crew. The flight later made an emergency diversion to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
The Flydubai plane lost thousands of feet of altitude in under a minute before control was regained. Later, all passengers were flown to Israel, and both pilots were hospitalised in Tabuk. The heroic Indian pilot Smit Machchhar is reported to be stable after treatment.
From altercation, hijacking to deliberate crash attempt claims: What exactly happened on the Flydubai flight
From CNN, The New York Times, AFP, The Wall Street Journal, Sky News, to BBC and some other legacy media outlets, all initially reported that the Flydubai flight made an emergency landing after a violent altercation ensued between the Indian and the Omani pilot.
Many online criticised the legacy media, stating that given their reputation for shielding Islamic terrorists and covering up their crimes, it seemed that the deliberate crash attempt by the Omani pilot was being given an ‘altercation between pilots’ spin. While none of these media outlets updated their specific reports, the further coverage shifted from the ‘brawl’ narrative to a hijacking bid and the foiled crash attempt.
Amid all the misinformation and narrative concoctions, it is pertinent to understand what exactly happened on the Flydubai flight on 30th September.
At around 6:49-7:05 am, the Flydubai FZ1073 flight departed the International Airport and climbed toward cruise altitude near 34,000 feet.
Hardly two hours in, as the aircraft approached Israeli airspace, the cockpit erupted.
According to the information given by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli officials, and passenger accounts, the Omani co-pilot stabbed the Indian captain repeatedly with the emergency axe, injuring his head and hands. The Omani Muslim pilot then moved to the controls in an apparent attempt to disable instruments or force a crash.
The flight tracking data indicated a rapid descent, with reports citing roughly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds or around 17,000 feet in under two minutes.
In no time, the crew transmitted the general emergency code 7700 and later, the hijack code 7500.
In a prompt response, Israel scrambled fighter jets.
The Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, bleeding profusely and lying on the cockpit floor in a pool of his own blood, managed to release the cockpit door lock before losing consciousness.
Consequently, passengers and crew forced the door, subdued the Omani pilot, and two off-duty pilots who were travelling as passengers took the controls. The Flydubai aircraft’s rudder showed damage.
At around 9:45 am local time, the aircraft landed safely at Tabuk’s Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Airport in Saudi Arabia after a distress call received at 8:44 am.
The Saudi authorities immediately took the Omani co-pilot into custody, and both pilots were rushed to hospital.
A Flydubai flight passenger, Almog Itali, described how the plane became a ‘rollercoaster’ before it “dropped down like a massive G-force” for around 30 seconds.
Smit Machchhar was joined by a dentist, Dr Shota Musaev, a plumber, Yaniv Hayoun, and the crew in saving over 170 lives on the Flydubai flight.
As replacement flights arrived later that day, passengers continued their journey to Tel Aviv.
Notably, the Omani pilot is reported to be an Islamist fanatic. As per a fellow pilot, the attacker is a religious extremist who would pray excessively throughout the day and refused to shake hands with women.
“He prayed excessively throughout the day and refused to shake hands with women,” the pilot told Israel’s Channel 16.
One of the Israeli passengers who subdued the pilot-hijacker on board flydubai FZ 1073 told PM Netanyahu that the stabbed captain managed to open the cockpit door before collapsing. This enabled the passengers to enter and seize the attacker, as he was attempting to destroy the… pic.twitter.com/TuOiAGBWy9
— Ariel Oseran أريئل أوسيران (@ariel_oseran) September 30, 2026
On 1st October, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Captain Smit Machchhar for his extraordinary courage and prayed for his speedy recovery.
” My salute to the Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar for his extraordinary bravery. Despite being stabbed and seriously injured, he fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door, and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker — preventing a catastrophic mid-air disaster. He saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals. I wish Captain Machchhar a speedy and full recovery. He is a true hero,” PM Netanyahu wrote on X.
Refuting the ‘brawl’ narrative, Israeli authorities have said that they view it as a serious security incident.
Meanwhile, Flydubai has suspended its Israel services pending investigation. The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority has opened a formal inquiry. So far, black-box data has not been publicly detailed. The Emirati authorities will probe the circumstances and motives, including whether it was linked to any terrorist activity or involved prior planning or direction.
Notably, the UAE judicial authorities have jurisdiction over the Flydubai incident because the aircraft is registered in the UAE and flies under its flag. The Emirati authorities have said that UAE law applies to crimes committed on board “even if they occur outside the country’s territory.”
Flydubai assigning an Omani national as pilot to an Israel-bound flight violates Israel-UAE agreement
The flight’s co-pilot is an Omani citizen, as per Israeli media reports, which is in blatant violation of the aviation agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, since Oman does not have diplomatic relations with Israel or recognise Israel as a country.
The Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev has accused Flydubai of violating the Israel-UAE aviation agreement.
Smit Machchhar: Who is the Indian captain who helped avert a 9/11-style disaster
Captain Smit Machchhar is an experienced Indian aviator and former SpiceJet pilot. Machchhar has more than 13 years of commercial aviation experience and approximately 9,750 hours of flying experience, primarily on Boeing 737 aircraft. More than 6,400 of those hours were accumulated as a pilot in command.
Before joining flydubai, Machchhar spent around 11 years with SpiceJet in India.
Smit Machchhar eventually became a senior commander and later a Line Training Captain, meaning that he was entrusted with training and checking other pilots. In June 2022, he joined flydubai as a direct-entry captain.
Smit’s experience includes the Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737 MAX variants—the same aircraft family involved in Wednesday’s emergency.
Now listen to the American Commercial Pilot about the heroics of the brave Indian Hindu Pilot who was literally multitasking at that point. Listen in! pic.twitter.com/g1ciuWwDy3
— Sougat Chakraborty (@sougat18) September 30, 2026
An Israeli official quoted by N12 described the incident in stark terms, saying that one pilot stabbed the other and attempted to “do 9/11”, either by taking control of the aircraft and bringing it down or deliberately crashing it.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said the co-pilot had attempted to crash the plane and praised those who intervened to prevent the disaster. Reuters reported that Israeli officials were treating the incident as a deliberate attack, while the investigation into the exact motive and sequence of events continued.
Smit Machhar’s bravery “managed to prevent a 9/11 disaster,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CNN.
In a Bona-Fide Banter podcast in 2025, Smit Machchhar said revealed that he was born into a family in the textile business, and becoming a pilot wasn’t Machchhar’s “childhood dream”. Destiny, however, brought Machchhar into civil aviation, and now he has become a global hero who saved dozens of lives.
