Flydubai Flight Diverts to Saudi Arabia After Cockpit Incident
A Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, September 30, after an alleged attack in the cockpit. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the co-pilot stabbed the pilot and apparently tried to crash the aircraft. Authorities have not announced a motive or the results of an investigation.
According to Netanyahu, passengers and off-duty Flydubai crew members traveling on the flight entered the cockpit and restrained the co-pilot. The aircraft, flight FZ1073, landed at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia. Saudi authorities were questioning the co-pilot, Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu identified the injured pilot as Capt. Smit Machchhar, an Indian citizen. He said Machchhar resisted the attack and helped others gain access to the cockpit. Netanyahu also said he had spoken with an Israeli passenger who described the aircraft descending before those on board intervened. These accounts have not been independently established in the information released so far.
Tabuk airport said both pilots were hospitalized. Flydubai confirmed that its crew had secured the aircraft and said all passengers and crew were safe and accounted for. The airline said the reasons for the incident remained unknown and would be examined through a formal investigation.
The United Arab Emirates’ General Civil Aviation Authority said it was investigating operational and security aspects of the incident. It urged the public not to circulate unofficial information or assume what the investigation would find.
Flydubai said it would temporarily suspend flights to and from Israel while the investigation continued, with the decision subject to review as more information became available. Passengers later boarded a replacement aircraft arranged by the airline and the airport and arrived in Tel Aviv on Wednesday evening. No further findings about how the cockpit incident began or how the aircraft was diverted had been announced.