How ‘jihadist terror attack’ was averted on Israel-bound flight

JTA – The swift actions of passengers prevented a flydubai pilot from deliberately crashing a Tel Aviv-bound plane on Wednesday morning, forcing an emergency landing at Tabuk Airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia.

One pilot stabbed another in the cockpit mid-flight, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an official video statement. One of the passengers entered the cockpit with a member of the cabin crew and restrained the alleged attacker who was attempting to interfere with the aircraft’s systems, he added.

“During the flight, as they were approaching Israel, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot and apparently attempted to crash the plane with its passengers on board,” the prime minister said.

Defense Minister Israel Katz described the incident, which occurred over Jordanian airspace, as a “jihadist terror attack.” Netanyahu called it a “serious security event” and said that nearly all of the passengers on board were Israelis.

Among the heroes who helped save the lives of the 174 passengers on board, Netanyahu said, was Captain Smit Machchhar, of India, who was stabbed by his co-pilot, a man whom Israeli and international media has identified as an Omani national.

Machchhar “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.

According to Machchhar’s LinkedIn page, he’s been a pilot with flydubai since June 2022. Prior to that, he spent 11 years as a pilot with SpiceJet.

Saudi authorities said the two pilots were taken to a hospital after sustaining injuries, according to international media reports. Netanyahu said that the pilot accused of carrying out the stabbing was “being questioned by the Saudi authorities.”