A co-pilot who is accused of attacking FlyDubai flight 1073’s captain during a flight en route to Israel and trying to kill the 180 people aboard by crashing the jet studied “Islamist radical indoctrination,” a report confirms.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox that the co-pilot, who was subdued by passengers as the airliner was saved to land safely in Saudi Arabia by two pilots who were passengers, “The attacker, the co-pilot who attacked the captain, is now being interrogated, but here’s what we do know: First, we know that, he underwent Islamist radical indoctrination.
“That appears to be something we’re gathering from the information – his personal information.”
He also said the attacker was on duty on the jet in violation of an Israeli rule that states pilots flying to Israel cannot be from countries without diplomatic relations with Israel.
“He was an Omani national and we have constraints that say you can’t have pilots from countries that don’t have diplomatic relations with Israel. So obviously he was able to go through that. So there’s a loophole there: How to make sure that we screened pilots in advance.”
The report said the captain was wounded, apparently in a stabbing attack by the rogue co-pilot, and both were being treated.
FlyDubai said it had temporarily suspended all flights to and from Israel following the near-disaster.
“This temporary suspension will allow the relevant authorities to continue their work and establish all the facts surrounding the incident,” the company wrote in a statement on its website.
The injured captain has been identified as Smit Machchhar, an Indian who was stabbed.
Netanyahu said, “He was stabbed in the head, and his arm was basically split in two. And there was a lot of blood.”
He confirmed that an Israeli dentist aboard the flight started treated Machchhar’s injuries while others put a headlock on the attacker.
“We salute the bravery of Captain Smit Machchhar, who, in spite of being gravely injured, showed remarkable courage that saved the lives of many. He is receiving medical attention and is safe. We wish and pray for his speedy recovery. The nation proudly stands with him,” Randhir Jaiswal, a spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, wrote in a Wednesday post on X.
Passenger Yaniv Hayoun, an Israeli, described how he pulled the attacking co-pilot away from the jet’s controls, because he appeared to be leaning on them, forcing the jet into a dive.
The Daily Mail reported, “Hayoun says he got to the door of the cockpit, where someone was holding the handle ‘I opened the door – I pushed the door while he was holding the handle. I pushed it open and went inside. On the floor, right beside the door, was the pilot. He was lying there. He was very seriously injured. There was no pilot in the pilot’s seat. One pilot was lying beside the door, seriously injured but conscious. His eyes were open. Between the two seats are the aircraft’s controls.'”
The co-pilot, Hayoun said, was kneeling on the controls.
“He was leaning forward toward the aircraft’s controls. So I grabbed him by the throat. I pushed him out toward the exit and started shouting for people to come and help because he was resisting.”
Then his training on television kicked in, the Daily Mail report explained.
“I leaned over the seat, reached forward with my hands and pulled the controls toward me because the aircraft was pointing downward. I pulled the controls back toward me. It was only for a few seconds.”
He said he knew what to do from watching a television program about air crashes.
“I saw on it that when an aircraft is going downward, you have to bring the controls back — pull them backward — to bring the nose level. It really was only for a few seconds. It wasn’t as though I flew the plane.”
The temporary stabilization allowed the two pilots who were passengers to take over.
Most people have seen what happened aboard the Flydubai flight to Tel Aviv, but there are a few details that deserve more attention.
Captain Smit Machchhar is an Indian national. After being stabbed and left bleeding on the cockpit floor, he still managed to unlock the door,…
— SharrellAnne (@SharrellAnne2) September 30, 2026
🚨🇮🇱🇴🇲 Netanyahu says the FlyDubai attacker wanted to DIE with the plane…
Bibi says the copilot appeared to be “suicidal” and intended to bring down the aircraft carrying 174 people.
And after passengers and crew subdued him, the attacker supposedly shouted:
“Kill me, kill…
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) October 1, 2026
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the pilot who hijacked Flydubai Flight FZ1073:
“This pilot, the attacking pilot, is now being interrogated in Saudi Arabia. He’ll be, I assume, moved very quickly to Dubai.
He’s an Omani national. He’ll be investigated and… pic.twitter.com/kyZRPghtHi
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) October 1, 2026
🇮🇱 Remember the passenger who casually told Netanyahu he took control of the Flydubai plane?
Yeah there was a lot more to that story.
Yaniv Hayun says he put the attacking co-pilot in a chokehold, dragged him out of the cockpit, then jumped back in and pulled up on the controls…
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) September 30, 2026
