flydubai incident LIVE: Indian pilot fought off co-pilot, averted 'jihadist attack’

flydubai incident LIVE updates: The pilot-in-command stabbed during Wednesday's freak incident aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Israel's Tel Aviv has reportedly been identified as Smit Machchhar, an Indian national.

flydubai incident LIVE: The pilot-in-command of the flydubai flight has been identified as Smit Machchhar, an Indian national (X, LinkedIn and AP)

flydubai incident LIVE updates: The pilot-in-command stabbed by the first officer during Wednesday's incident aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to Israel's Tel Aviv has been identified as Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, people aware of the matter said....Read More

Follow all the updates here:

• 30 Sept 2026, 08:40:08 PM IST

  flydubai incident LIVE: Saudi Arabia rejects Israeli request to allow planes to pick up stranded Israeli passengers

  flydubai incident LIVE: Saudi Arabia has rejected an Israeli request to allow its planes to enter its region and pick up stranded Israeli passengers, security sources were quoted as saying by news agency Reuters.

• 30 Sept 2026, 08:28:48 PM IST

  flydubai incident LIVE: ‘Terrorist’ on flydubai wanted to crash plane, kill Israelis on board, says Israel security minister

  flydubai incident LIVE: The flydubai incident in which a plane travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv diverted and made a safe emergency landing in Saudi Arabia was a “terrorist” attack, claims Israel.

  Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel's security minister, said that “terrorist” wanted to crash Flydubai's FZ1073 plane to kill Israelis, according to AFP.

  However, initially, Doron Spielman, who is a spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister's office, had told Reuters that the incident was not believed to have been a hijacking and described it as a “different incident”.

  Read more here

• 30 Sept 2026, 08:22:21 PM IST

  flydubai incident LIVE: Stabbed flydubai pilot Smit Machchhar is Indian national, worked with SpiceJet earlier

  flydubai incident LIVE: The pilot stabbed during Wednesday's incident on flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv is Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, people aware of the matter said. The Boeing 737 MAX 8 was diverted to Tabuk in north-western Saudi Arabia, where Machchhar and his co-pilot were taken to hospital. His condition was not immediately known.
  
  Machchhar has been a captain on flydubai's Boeing 737 fleet since June 2022, according to his LinkedIn profile. Before that he spent 11 years at SpiceJet in Mumbai, where he was a senior commander and, from November 2020, a line training captain who trained and checked other pilots. The profile lists 9,750 flying hours on the 737-800 and the 737 MAX 8 and 9. Read more here

• 30 Sept 2026, 08:13:23 PM IST

  flydubai incident LIVE: Israel defence minister says flydubai incident 'attempted jihadist terror attack'

  flydubai incident LIVE: Israel's defence minister on Wednesday called an incident on board a Tel Aviv-bound plane an "attempted jihadist terror attack," after it made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia due to a reported fight between the pilots.

  "The serious incident on the flydubai plane was an attempted jihadist terror attack, which was thwarted only thanks to the heroism of several Israeli passengers who broke into the cockpit, overpowered the terrorist, and with their own hands returned control of the aircraft to an additional flight crew that was present there," Israel Katz said, according to a statement.

  (AFP)

• 30 Sept 2026, 08:10:08 PM IST

  flydubai incident LIVE: Flydubai says reason for mid-air altercation is ‘unknown,’ says spokesperson

  flydubai incident LIVE: UAE based airliner Flydubai on Wednesday said the reasons for an altercation that "occurred in the flight deck of flight FZ 1073" remained unknown and were under formal investigation, according to a spokesperson.

  "At this early stage, the underlying reasons and motives behind this event are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation. We urge all parties to refrain from premature speculation while authorities gather the facts," a flydubai spokesperson said in a statement.

  (AFP)

• 30 Sept 2026, 08:01:05 PM IST

  flydubai incident LIVE: Passengers held stabbing co-pilot down, other pilots landed plane, says Netanyahu

  flydubai incident LIVE: The co-pilot of a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv tried to crash the plane after stabbing the pilot, but passengers then held him down while other pilots landed the plane safely in Saudi Arabia, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday.

  Describing the event as "a highly severe security incident," Netanyahu said Saudi authorities would interrogate the co-pilot of flydubai flight FZ1073 from the United Arab Emirates to Israel.

  The alleged assailant, who an Israeli official identified as an Omani national, was arrested after the plane landed, Netanyahu said.

  "All passengers are out of harm's way," Netanyahu, who described the passengers as being almost all Israeli, said in a video statement released by his office.

  The Israeli leader quoted a passenger as saying that passengers along with a member of the crew broke into the cockpit after the aircraft "entered a tailspin and began to dive" and found the co-pilot "trying to sabotage the plane's systems."

  (Via Reuters)

• 30 Sept 2026, 07:50:23 PM IST

  flydubai incident LIVE: Refrain premature speculation, says airline

  flydubai incident LIVE | Here's what flydubai spokesperson said on the incident on flight FZ 1073:

  An altercation occurred in the flight deck of flight FZ 1073, operating from Dubai International (DXB) to Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV), on 30 September.

  The aircraft was successfully secured by on-duty flydubai crew travelling on the flight, who diverted and landed the aircraft safely at Tabuk Airport (TUU). All passengers and crew are safe and accounted for.

  We have deployed two replacement aircraft to Tabuk to relieve the passengers and crew.

  This incident has no impact on other scheduled operations across the flydubai network.

  At this early stage, the underlying reasons and motives behind this event are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation. We urge all parties to refrain from premature speculation while authorities gather the facts.

  Our immediate priority is to ensure the ongoing safety, health, and wellbeing of all passengers and crew members involved in this incident and support the official investigation.

• 30 Sept 2026, 07:29:04 PM IST

  flydubai incident LIVE: Passengers of flight involved in hijacking scare depart for Tel Aviv

  flydubai incident LIVE: A passenger onboard the flight to Israel that made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday told AFP news agency that they have now departed Tabuk for Tel Aviv on a new plane.

  The passenger told via text that the new flight had already boarded and departed.

• 30 Sept 2026, 07:26:01 PM IST

  flydubai incident LIVE: Israel says flydubai incident 'attempted jihadist terror attack'

  flydubai incident LIVE: Israel defence minister says flydubai incident 'attempted jihadist terror attack', reports AFP news agency.

• 30 Sept 2026, 07:23:43 PM IST

  flydubai hijacking scare LIVE: Saudi arrests flydubai pilot who ‘tried to crash plane’, stabbed Indian co-pilot

  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Saudi Arabia arrested one of the pilots who apparently tried to bring down a FlyDubai flight full of Israelis.

  Netanyahu said that pilot of the flydubai plane bound for Tel Aviv had planned to crash it and kill its mostly Israeli passengers, who stopped a "major disaster".

  "During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board," Netanyahu said in a video message, calling the passengers "heroes" who "prevented a major disaster".