The horror that transpired at 34,000 feet on Wednesday (September 30, 2026) on the Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flydubai Flight FZ1073 has left people with many questions and few answers. The major question remains as to what motivated the Omani co-pilot to brutally stab the pilot midair, inside the cockpit of a flight carrying mostly Israeli passengers, and causing the flight to nearly crash.
Chaos erupted on the flydubai Flight FZ1073 after the aircraft plunged from 34,000 feet to about 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds and sent out three emergency signals, including one meant for hijacking situations. Panicked passengers noticed some commotion inside the cockpit of the aircraft, which later turned out to be a stabbing situation.
Passengers described the scene inside the cockpit as the co-pilot, an Omani national, stabbing the main pilot, an Indian national named Captain Smit Machchhar, and violently bashing the controls of the aircraft. Captain Machchhar somehow managed to open the cockpit door, allowing the passengers inside to take control of the situation and neutralise the attacker.
Two off-duty pilots, who happened to be on the flight, navigated the aircraft to make an emergency landing at Tabuk airport in north-western Saudi Arabia. Upon landing, both pilots were hospitalised, and the condition of Captain Machchhar is stable. The passengers spent around 8 hours at Tabuk airport before they were flown to Israel on a replacement flydubai aircraft, which later landed at Ben Gurion International Airport.
The Omani pilot refused to shake hands with women.
After the landing of the aircraft, the co-pilot was arrested by Saudi authorities and taken for questioning. Little information is available so far about the co-pilot, who could have caused a major catastrophe had it not been for the courage and presence of mind of the Indian pilot and the passengers.
Israeli authorities have identified him as an Omani national, although his name and identity have not been disclosed and are not yet confirmed. The Omani national was assigned as a co-pilot on Flydubai Flight FZ1073. He had reportedly been employed by the airline for less than a year.
According to reports, the Omani co-pilot’s colleagues described him as a religious extremist who used to pray excessively throughout the day and refused to shake hands with women. Israel’s Channel 16 foreign editor and news anchor Yosef Yisrael, who spoke with a colleague of the Omani co-pilot, said that the colleague described him as “someone characterised by very strange behaviour, especially around religious observances”.
Israel calls it a “Jihadist terrorist attack”
Although his motive behind the attack is not yet known, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the co-pilot apparently tried to crash the plane with its occupants. “During the flight, as they approached the country [Israel], one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board,” the Israeli PM said.
Israeli leaders termed the attack a “Jihadist terror attack”. Referring to the Omani pilot as a “terrorist”, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that he had plotted to crash the aircraft, on which the majority of passengers were Israeli. “According to the initial information in our possession, the terrorist had one intention: to crash the plane with all its passengers,” Katz said. Israeli authorities are reportedly treating the incident as an attempted terrorist attack and not a mental health situation.
Israel questions the assignment of an Omani co-pilot to the Tel Aviv-bound flight.
Investigators are examining why the Omani national was allowed to operate a flight bound for Israel and whether he held dual citizenship. Israeli government has also raised questions as to why an Omani national was assigned as a co-pilot on a flight bound for Israel when Oman has no diplomatic relations with Israel.
Transportation Minister Miri Regev said that Flydubai violated the aviation agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel by assigning an Omani pilot to a flight bound for Israel. The agreement only allows pilots with passports from countries having diplomatic ties with Israel to land in the country.
In light of the incident, the transportation minister has instructed aviation authorities to stop all Flydubai flights to Israel. Regev has also directed Israel’s aviation regulatory body to investigate whether Flydubai breached Israel-UAE aviation pacts.
The incident is being investigated by the authorities in Saudi Arabia and Israel. The Omani co-pilot is currently in custody in Saudi Arabia and is likely to be taken to the UAE later, where the flight took off.
