A catastrophic aviation disaster was averted on Wednesday (September 30, 2026) after the passengers and crew foiled a flydubai flight co-pilot’s attempt to crash the aircraft. The pilot who staved off the crash attempt was identified as Indian national Smit Machchhar, while an Israeli passenger made a dramatic intervention to steady the Dubai-Tel Aviv flight which landed in Saudi Arabia.

The passenger, identified as Yaniv by Israeli media, claimed that he knew some basic concepts about flying from watching the television programme, Air Crash Investigation!

How TV show helped a passenger 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who hailed Yaniv as a hero, spoke with the passenger after the ordeal. Netanyahu’s office released ‌a video ⁠showing the prime minister at Ben Gurion Airport giving a hug to Yaniv Hayun, who his office said “broke into” the cockpit. “I see you and I see a lion – a big hero,” Netanyahu told the man, who was still wearing the blood-stained shirt he had on during the flight. In the video that is now being widely circulated online, Yaniv is seen describing the events to the PM.

Recounting the incidents that happened on the cockpit of the fateful flight, the passenger said that he saw one pilot on the floor and the other over the controls. He said he grabbed the co-pilot by neck and yanked him out of the co-pilot. Then he jumped in and pulled the controls. When a visibly surprised Netanyahu asked whether he knew how to pull the controls, the passenger replied in the affirmative.

Mayday: Air Crash Investigation show

The Canadian TV documentary series Mayday, also known as Air Crash Investigation, chronicles flight-related disasters and crises, including air crashes, hijackings, bombings, and other aviation accidents. The show, which uses cockpit recordings and eyewitness testimony, features dramatic re-enactments of the events in the flight as it seeks to find out what really happened. First premiered in 2003, the series has 26 Seasons and is available to watch on JioHotstar in India.

What happened on flydubai flight cockpit

The flydubai flight FZ1073, travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, had transmitted emergency signals and made a sharp descent before diverting to Prince Sultan Bin Abdel Aziz Airport in Tabuk. The flight was carrying 174 passengers, including 27 children.

The co-pilot’s attempt to crash the aircraft was foiled in the struggle that began when he stabbed the pilot and sent the jet plunging ​nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds. Passengers and crew entered the cockpit, overpowered the co-pilot and enabled a second pair of flydubai pilots who were aboard the flight to land the jet ‌safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Israeli officials said.

More than 10 hours later, the passengers arrived at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport aboard a flydubai replacement aircraft, with several describing the episode as a miracle and recounting a frantic struggle to prevent a catastrophe. Israeli officials said the attacker’s motive aboard flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv remained under investigation.

Israeli officials also applauded the passengers, ​who they credited with avoiding a much more serious disaster

Describing the event as “a serious security incident,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said Saudi authorities would interrogate ​the co-pilot.

Mr. Netanyahu also hailed the Indian Captain Smit Machchhar, who was wounded in an altercation with his copilot. Describing him as a “true hero”, Mr. Netanyahu said that “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.”

Flydubai said in a statement that the underlying reasons for the event remained unknown and warned against “premature speculation.” An Israeli official identified the co-pilot as an Omani national.

(With inputs from Reuters, PTI)

A passenger on a rerouted flydubai flight that was bound for Tel Aviv said one of the pilots tried to crash the plane and kill everyone on board, after both pilots were found to be wounded on landing in Saudi Arabia.

In the first comment by an official, Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, alleged an attempted “terrorist” attack in the incident, in which none of the passengers reported injuries.

The flydubai plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk “at 9:45 a.m. (0645 GMT), and its captain and copilot were found to have injuries and were transported to hospital”, a statement from the company operating the airport said.

Passengers recall nightmare

Passenger Miryam Shira Ohayon said the plane was “pretty much out of control” when one of the pilots tried to stab the other while they were flying over Jordan en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv.

“So the co-pilot tried to murder the pilot and basically carry out a suicide attack on the plane,” she told reporters by speakerphone held up by her mother who was waiting at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv.

“It was really on the way to crashing, and it was simply the resourcefulness of many people who took control of the co-pilot and neutralised him,” she said.

“There was also a doctor who gave first aid, and people who treated both of them. Other than the pilot, there were no injuries, but the bigger fear was really a crash, which is exactly what he was trying to do.”

Earlier, Yasmin Abukasis, Ohayon’s mother, told AFP her daughter called her from Saudi Arabia: “She said one pilot tried to kill the other pilot with a knife. They heard shouting”.

Another passenger went to the cockpit “and saw a lot of blood. She started screaming ‘come help’ and some people went in and caught the guy”, she added.

In photos sent to AFP by one of the passengers, travellers, including children, are seen gathered in an airport lounge, with some sitting on the floor, while one man is wearing a white T-shirt and jeans stained with blood.

The incident comes as tensions are high across West Asia, amid the regional war that erupted in late February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

It also comes just ahead of close-fought Israeli elections due to be held at the end of October.