Captain Smit Machchhar, a flydubai pilot, fought off a co‑pilot who stabbed him during flight FZ 1073 from Dubai to Ben Gurion on a Wednesday morning, causing the aircraft to lose 17,400 feet in two minutes.
The co‑pilot, whose identity has not yet been disclosed, allegedly tried to sabotage the plane’s systems, according to a video statement from Defence Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the suspect attempted to crash the aircraft.
A crew member and a passenger rushed the cockpit, subdued the saboteur, and helped stabilize the aircraft, enabling an emergency diversion to an airport in Saudi Arabia where all 180 passengers were unharmed.
Captain Machchhar, who has 13 years of commercial flying experience and 9,750 flight hours on the Boeing 737, joined flydubai in June 2022 after a decade with SpiceJet; his brother also works for the airline.
The incident has triggered a suspension of flydubai’s flights to and from Israel pending a full investigation, while the suspect remains in custody and is being interrogated by Saudi authorities.