Indian pilot who fought off apparent hijack attempt hailed as hero as Flydubai passengers describe terror onboard

• Disaster averted: An Indian pilot and passengers who thwarted an apparent attempted hijacking of a Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight have been hailed as heroes. The pilot — identified as Captain Smit Machchhar — “managed to prevent a 9/11 disaster,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CNN .

• Terrifying moments: Passengers rushed the cockpit as Machchhar’s colleague attacked him and the plane plummeted 17,400 feet in less than two minutes. The plane was later diverted to Saudi Arabia and passengers have since returned safely to Israel. Flydubai has launched an investigation, an airline spokesperson said.

• Questions remain: Israel has called the incident an “attempted terrorist attack,” but no motive has been confirmed. The attacker has not been identified , but one Israeli official said he is an Omani national.

Israel’s national airline El Al said it is working on evacuating Israelis stranded in Dubai after Flydubai suspended flights to Tel Aviv following Wednesday’s stabbing and attempted hijacking.

There is no date set yet for the evacuation flights, an El Al spokesperson told CNN.

Flights between Dubai International Airport (DXB) and Ben Gurion Airport (TLV) have increased in recent years. The signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020 normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and allowed commercial aviation services between the two countries to resume.

Flydubai typically operates 70 flights from Dubai to Tel Aviv weekly. It has been the sole carrier on the route in recent months after Israeli carriers suspended flights to Dubai due to the Iran war.

More than 1 million Israeli passengers traveled to Dubai in 2025, according to data from TLV airport.

Eighteen years before Captain Smit Machchhar was hailed for helping save a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, he was a teenager learning to fly at the bottom of New Zealand’s South Island.

Philip Kean, CEO of Mainland Air in Dunedin, remembers him from that first spell away from home in 2008.

Aged around 20 at the time, Machchhar was one of a group of young Indian flying students training in near Dunedin Airport and living at an old priests seminary in nearby Mosgiel.

“He got through in the required time, and obviously the rest of the story is history,” Kean said.

Machchhar later returned to India, joined an airline and, in time, became a captain.

The school’s care of the students, often abroad for the first time, went beyond the cockpit. “We take them into our custody and look after them in their accommodation,” Kean said. “Sort of part of the big family, extended family.”

Watching the news of Machchhar’s heroic actions from Dunedin, Kean said “It was an amazing feat,” and that he was “very proud” of his former student handled the situation.

Kean still has a group photograph from those days long before the world knew Machchhar’s name. “He definitely got a smile of his own… he’s sort of a happy, happy chap.”

The Flydubai attempted hijacking adds to a year of crisis for Middle East airlines, which are already suffering from slowing ticket sales and rising fuel prices caused by war in the region.

The Gulf kingdoms have invested billions to build themselves into world class travel and transit hubs.

But travelers have become increasingly reluctant to transit through international hubs like Dubai, after the US-led war in Iran stranded thousands of passengers earlier this year. In August, air travel demand for Middle East carriers fell 14.6% year-over-year, compared to a 0.6% increase outside the region, the International Air Transport Association said .

The recent incident could further discourage regional travel and increase pressure to improve security measures among Middle Eastern airlines. Israel said it would ramp up security checks after one of the pilots appeared to attempt to crash the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv.

According to the IATA, the conflict in the Middle East is expected to halve profitability for airlines this year compared to 2025.

The industry is already grappling with rising operational expenses, higher fuel costs and a growing global shortage of aircraft personnel. Consulting firm Oliver Wyman estimated the shortfall of pilots would peak this year at about 24,000.

The World Economic Forum also warned that falling tourism in the Middle East would have broader economic implications, as an industry that accounted for about $11.6 trillion in global GDP last year and supported 357 million jobs.

As investigators probe the apparent attempted hijacking of a Flydubai plane, they will be looking to answer a number of key questions, said CNN’s senior national security analyst, Juliette Kayyem.

The alleged assailant’s motives are not yet clear, and authorities have not yet released his identity. But “any investigator would begin with the idea that this was a terrorist attack,” since it was a flight headed for Israel with many Israelis on board, she said.

There are other possible theories, too – and authorities will be investigating whether there were any mental health factors, potential radicalization, and whether he had any co-conspirators or was enabled by any particular country.

The incident also raised serious security questions, Kayyem said, such as how the assailant, a pilot, managed to get to this position without having been caught or detected before – since all pilots are continuously assessed, including their politics or risk of radicalization.

It was thanks to the quick thinking of the assailant’s colleague, who was attacked in the cockpit and is now being treated in hospital, that likely disaster was averted, Kayyem said. “I will say the pilot who was stabbed, his ability to think that he needed to open that (cockpit) door saved over 100 people’s lives today.”

Authorities are investigating how and why a pilot allegedly stabbed his colleague on a Flydubai flight to Tel Aviv on Wednesday, sending the plane into a terrifying nosedive, causing panic onboard and forcing the flight to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

We’re learning more details about the horrifying and heroic scenes onboard after passengers and crew bravely rushed into the cockpit, thwarting the apparent hijack attempt, and landed the plane safely.

Pilot hailed a hero: Captain Smit Machchhar, the Indian pilot who was stabbed mid-air, has been hailed as a hero by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who told CNN Machchhar “managed to prevent a 9/11 disaster.” Machchhar is in stable condition and being treated at a hospital in Saudi Arabia, according to the Indian Embassy in Riyadh.

Questions remain about attacker: The pilot who allegedly attacked Machchhar has not been identified, but one Israeli official said he is an Omani national. The suspect has since been detained and is being questioned by Saudi authorities, Netanyahu said Wednesday.

The investigation: Israeli officials have called the incident an “attempted terrorist attack,” but no motive has been confirmed. Netanyahu said Israel did not have any warning or intelligence about the incident. Flydubai flights to and from Israel are temporarily suspended. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar discussed the incident with his UAE counterpart and they agreed to cooperate against “extremist elements” threatening security.

Distress call: Flydubai flight FZ1074 left Dubai at 6:05 a.m. local time Wednesday. About two hours later, the aircraft began quickly losing altitude and turned sharply to the north. The flight issued a distress call at 8:31 a.m., minutes before it squawked code 7500 — the International Civil Aviation Organization code to signal an aircraft hijacking.

Passengers scramble: After the cockpit door was thrust open, passengers raced to restrain the alleged attacker while others tended to a seriously wounded Machchhar. Passenger Adam Polo said it felt like he was riding “the craziest roller coaster” as the plane plunged 17,400 feet, while others on board said they thought they were going to die.

Safely diverted: Netanyahu and Flydubai said reserve pilots in the passenger area managed to regain control of the aircraft and land it safely at Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk Airport, where it touched down at 9:54 a.m.

Passengers reach Israel: The passengers then traveled on a substitute Flydubai plane to their final destination Tel Aviv, where they reunited with loved ones and received medical care.

Passengers on board the Flydubai flight have described scenes of “complete chaos” and a “nightmare” as the plane plunged repeatedly, prompting some to say goodbye to their families.

Passenger Adam Polo, who was on the plane with his wife and two young children, recalled the terror of its sudden descent during the attack in the cockpit.

Polo described the descent as “the craziest roller coaster that you ever did, but multiplied by a thousand.” He recalled how people near the cockpit started shouting, “there is stabbing,” and that “everything was full of blood.”

Passenger Assaf Rajuan said that even after the attacker on the Flydubai flight to Israel was restrained, passengers remained terrified , not knowing who to trust and fearing a hostage situation.

Passengers didn’t even know if the person in control of the plane “was on our side, or who was on which side,” he added.

Flydubai passenger Mika Bauman described chaos aboard the flight that was diverted to Saudi Arabia, as children cried and passengers screamed.

“I was just sure I was going to die,” she said. “You’re just sitting there and accepting your fate.”

CNN’s Erin Burnett, Dana Karni, Hira Humayun, Jeremy Diamond, and Zeena Saifi contributed reporting.

Captain Smit Machchhar has been identified as the Indian pilot who was stabbed while helping thwart the apparent attempt to hijack the Flydubai plane en route to Israel on Wednesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Machchhar as a “true hero, ” saying he prevented “disaster for Israel” and saved the lives of the 174 people on the plane.

Netanyahu concluded by saying he wished “Captain Machchhar a speedy and full recovery.”

His condition: Machchhar suffered “massive blood loss” and was “severely wounded,” Dr. Shota Musaev, a dentist on board, told CNN. Video shared on social media and verified by CNN showed the pilot seriously wounded on the floor of the aircraft. Several passengers can be seen helping him and monitoring his vital signs.

Once the plane landed, Machchhar was taken to hospital in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. The Indian Embassy in Riyadh earlier said he was in “stable condition” but was awaiting a full update on his health.

A hero: Machchhar has also been hailed as a hero in his home country, with leading news outlets praising his bravery. Many Indians have also taken to social media to express their pride.

The identity of the pilot who allegedly attacked Captain Smit Machchhar — the pilot who fought back in the attempted hijacking of the Israel-bound Flydubai flight FZ107 — remains unclear.

Nor do we know the other pilot’s motive or the weapon he used in the violent altercation.

One Israeli official said the alleged attacker was an Omani national.

Oman and Israel do not have formal diplomatic relations, and it is not yet clear how the Omani pilot would have obtained clearance to fly to Israel. The suspected attacker has since been detained and is being questioned by Saudi authorities, Netanyahu said Wednesday.

But questions remain around how the incident unfolded and what motivated the pilot to instigate the bloody interaction.

Passengers arrived safely in Israel on a replacement Flydubai flight after Saudi Arabia rejected an Israeli request to send a military or civilian plane to bring passengers home. One passenger, Assaf Rajuan, said the person who attacked Machchhar was “neutralized” very quickly by a group of passengers and flight crew.

Rajuan said he and about five others helped subdue the attacker.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the pilot on board the diverted Flydubai flight who fought back after another pilot in the cockpit appears to have tried to crash the plane “managed to prevent a 9/11 disaster.”

“That’s what it looks like was happening as far as the specific motivations of this,” he told CNN’s Jim Sciutto.

He said that he spoke with US President Donald Trump “about this amazing, amazing act of heroism that saved a disaster that would have been not only a disaster for Israel, but you can imagine how it could affect the global aviation.”

He went on to say that Israel did not have any warning or intelligence about the incident and that an investigation into it is underway.

“I spoke again to President (Sheikh Mohammed) bin Zahed of the United Arab Emirates, and he agreed immediately that we should join the investigation. And we’ll find out.”

Israel has called the incident an attempted terrorist attack, but has not made public the details behind the attacker’s motive.