A Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday after one of its pilots was stabbed in the cockpit. Israeli officials say the co-pilot, an Omani national, attacked the captain and attempted to crash the aircraft. Flydubai has described the incident as an altercation and says the motive is unknown. The Boeing 737 MAX landed safely with 174 people aboard.
According to Israeli officials, the captain, Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, unlocked the cockpit door after being stabbed, allowing passengers and crew to restrain the co-pilot. Early reports differed on the captain’s nationality, on which pilot attacked which, and on the extent of the aircraft’s descent. Flydubai and the Saudi, Emirati and Omani governments have released few details.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu identified Machchhar by name and praised his actions. “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,” Netanyahu wrote on X. “He saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals.” President Donald Trump also hailed the captain as a hero, according to ANI.
Inside the Cockpit
The attack began as the flight from Dubai crossed Jordanian airspace on Wednesday morning. Flightradar24 data cited by Reuters showed the jet dropping nearly 14,000 feet in under 30 seconds before the first emergency signal went out. According to Flightradar24, the aircraft transmitted a general emergency code, then a code signaling possible unlawful interference.
Netanyahu’s spokesman, Doron Spielman, described the bloodied captain on the floor drawing on “the last moments of his energy” to release the door mechanism, ANI reported. Senator Tim Sheehy told Fox News the captain apparently used his foot to hit the switch, after resisting the attacker and alerting air traffic control.
Dr. Shota Musaev, a dentist on board, told CNN he ran toward the cockpit and found the attacker on the floor on top of the pilot, still stabbing him. Musaev then treated the captain’s wounds, according to Newsweek. Another passenger, Yaniv Hayoun, told reporters, “The door apparently wasn’t locked, and we managed to open it somehow.”
With the co-pilot restrained, a second pair of Flydubai pilots traveling aboard took the controls and landed safely in Tabuk, Israeli officials told CBC. Flydubai’s own statement, reported by CBS News, said the plane “was successfully secured by on-duty FlyDubai crew traveling on the flight.” Israel’s Foreign Ministry credited three groups with saving the flight: the Indian captain, the Israeli passengers and the Emirati crew.
Machchhar underwent surgery in Saudi Arabia, i24NEWS reported. The Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia said he is in stable condition.
Conflicting Reports
The earliest account, from an Israeli official speaking to Reuters, described a “physical altercation” between the pilots. The Prime Minister’s Office initially said the incident was not a hijacking. Within hours, Netanyahu said on video that “one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot” and “apparently he tried to crash the plane with its occupants.”
The captain’s identity shifted repeatedly. Israel’s Air Defense Forces initially said the captain was a citizen of the United Arab Emirates, according to aviation site Migflug. Ynet and unconfirmed Hebrew media reports cited by the Times of Israel described him as Emirati. Swiss media reported he was Saudi. Netanyahu, Israel’s Foreign Ministry and the Indian Embassy now identify him as Smit Machchhar, an Indian national and former SpiceJet pilot.
Reports also split on which pilot attacked which. Netanyahu’s first statement did not say. Several outlets, Israel365 News among them, named the captain as the attacker. Israeli officials speaking to CNN, Reuters and Ynet identify the co-pilot as the assailant and the captain as the victim.
The first passenger accounts, reported by the Times of Israel, described panicked flight attendants and Israelis forcing their way into the cockpit. Netanyahu and the Foreign Ministry say the wounded captain unlocked the door. Passenger Yaniv Hayoun said the door “apparently wasn’t locked.” The Foreign Ministry credits the Emirati cabin crew alongside the passengers.
One Indian outlet reported that the relief pilots were a Russian and a Ukrainian. No other outlet has confirmed it.
The altitude figures remain inconsistent. Reuters, citing Flightradar24, reported a drop of nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds. Onmanorama reported a fall of roughly 17,400 feet in under two minutes. Migflug described a descent from 34,000 feet to about 19,000 feet in roughly 90 seconds.
Israel asked to send its own aircraft to Tabuk, and Saudi authorities declined, ANI reported. Flydubai dispatched a replacement plane, which landed at Ben Gurion Airport on Wednesday afternoon as passengers sang and cheered.
What Is Known About the Co-Pilot
No authority has released the co-pilot’s name. Israeli officials told Reuters and CNN he is an Omani national, and an Omani official confirmed to CBS News that the attacker was born in Oman and holds Omani citizenship. Netanyahu said he is under arrest and being questioned by Saudi authorities, and Ynet reported that Israel is taking part in the interrogation. Israeli sources told Channel 12 he had worked for Flydubai for less than a year; Israel Hayom put it at nine months.
Under the aviation agreement, pilots landing in Israel must hold passports from countries with diplomatic relations with Israel, according to Hebrew media reports cited by the Times of Israel. Oman has no diplomatic relations with Israel. Israeli sources quoted by Channel 12 said investigators are examining whether he held dual citizenship that allowed him onto the Israel route. Transportation Minister Miri Regev ordered the Civil Aviation Authority to examine whether Flydubai violated its agreements, Israel National News reported, and Matzav reported that Regev raised the dual-citizenship question with Netanyahu. No government or airline has officially confirmed a second nationality.
On motive, Israel National News reported that Israeli officials do not yet know with certainty why he attacked, though indications of a nationalist motive are growing, and that the Mossad chief is coordinating the investigation. An Israeli official told N12, “One pilot stabbed the other and tried to do 911 – either hijack the plane to the ground or crash it.” Israel’s Foreign Ministry told ambassadors worldwide that the stabbing was an “attempted terrorist attack” against Israelis, the UAE and the Abraham Accords. Israeli investigators are also probing how he brought a weapon into the cockpit, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Flydubai has said only that “an altercation occurred in the flight deck,” CBS News reported, and made no mention of a stabbing. It said the reasons and motives “are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation” and urged “all parties to refrain from premature speculation.” Flydubai has suspended its flights to and from Israel, according to CBC, and i24NEWS reported that the airline will issue a further statement after studying the cockpit voice recorder.
False Flag Claims and Media Coverage
Claims that Israel staged the attack spread online within an hour of the incident. The Combat Antisemitism Movement’s research center documented 1,000 hostile posts within five hours, and 2,963 posts over a 12-hour period attributing the incident to Israel, the Mossad, Netanyahu, Zionists or Jews. In the final two hours of its monitoring, 81 percent of tracked posts on X using the term “false flag” contained antisemitic conspiracy theories, according to the group.
One post by American commentator Jackson Hinkle was viewed more than 1.5 million times, ABC News in Australia reported. ABC also identified a fabricated BBC video circulating online that combined unrelated footage with real video from inside the plane.
Iran’s Fars News Agency presented the incident as an Israeli false-flag operation, according to Israel Hayom and The Media Line. The Media Line reported that Fars offered no evidence linking Israel to the flight. Channel 12 reported that Israel has no indication the attacker was directed by Iran or any organization and currently believes he acted alone.
Mainstream outlets drew criticism for their initial wording. The New York Times posted on X that the plane “was diverted after an altercation between the pilot and co-pilot, Israeli officials said.” BBC World posted, “Israel-bound flight diverted after fight between pilots.” Both posts received Community Notes stating that the co-pilot had stabbed the captain. The Times responded on X: “Unlike activists and partisans, we don’t publish speculation or unverified information.” Senator Ted Cruz accused the paper of acting “as a for terrorists.” The word “altercation” was first used by an Israeli official speaking to Reuters and by Flydubai in its statement.
The Times is currently facing a shareholder lawsuit over its Israel coverage. On September 23, the State Board of Administration of Florida, on behalf of the Florida Retirement System Trust Fund, and the National Center for Public Policy Research filed a petition in New York County Supreme Court seeking internal records on the paper’s source verification, corrections and board oversight of editorial standards. The suit cites a former Times employee who says she raised concerns about anti-Israel bias at least 15 times between 2019 and March 2026, when she left the paper. The petition seeks documents and does not ask the court to rule on whether the coverage was biased. “This lawsuit has no merit and was brought for an improper purpose,” Times spokesman Charlie Stadtlander said.
Investigations into the incident are under way in Israel and Saudi Arabia, and Flydubai is conducting its own internal review. The airline has not said when it will release its findings.
This is a developing story.
