Flydubai copilot attack: Indian captain stabbed, jet lands in Saudi

Investigators were on Thursday trying to establish why an Omani copilot allegedly stabbed the Indian captain of a Flydubai flight to Israel, triggering a steep mid-air plunge before the aircraft was brought under control and landed in Saudi Arabia. The flight was carrying 174 people, most of them Israelis, from the United Arab Emirates to Tel Aviv.

Passengers said the injured captain managed to open the cockpit door and let them in, after which some of them grappled with the copilot and helped steady the aircraft during a descent so sharp that its rudder was torn away. Capt Smit Machchhar was later reported to be in stable condition, according to the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia.

Asaf Rajuan, one of the passengers who intervened, said in a statement shared by Israel's presidency: "We felt helpless, suspended in midair, and I didn't know who to turn to. But it was all instinct to survive."

A regional official briefed on the investigation said the suspect, an Omani citizen, was under arrest and that Saudi authorities were working with other countries, including Israel, to determine a motive. The official said the UAE, the United States and Oman were also involved. "All possible scenarios, from terrorism to mental disorders, are being looked into. Nothing is ruled out for now," the official said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss an ongoing probe.

Video recorded inside the aircraft by Shota Musayev, a dentist who treated the captain, showed the copilot on his knees with his hands tied behind his back. The copilot's name has not been released and his condition was not known.

Another regional official said Israeli intelligence and security officials were in Saudi Arabia to help investigate the copilot. The official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said Israel had asked for the copilot to be sent to Israel for the investigation, though it was not clear whether that request would be granted.

Saudi Arabia does not have formal diplomatic ties with Israel, but the two countries have long cooperated on security and intelligence matters through alternative channels. The UAE government said its own investigation team had begun examining the attack and "whether it was linked to any terrorist purpose", noting that it had jurisdiction because the plane is registered there and UAE law applies to crimes committed on board.

Asked whether there was any indication of Iranian involvement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News: "it's too early to say." Netanyahu said he had also spoken to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who agreed that Israel would join the interrogation of the suspect. US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that he and Netanyahu had discussed the incident "at length" by phone and that it seemed the copilot "was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job". Oman has not commented.

Netanyahu had warned in recent days of heightened security threats, but told CNN that Israel had received no specific warning. The incident came a week before the anniversary of the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza, and weeks before an election.

Israel's Foreign Ministry said most of those on board were from Israel, along with others from India and the UAE. The US State Department said four passengers were American citizens. Flydubai said its flights to and from Israel would be suspended, and Netanyahu told CBS that Israel planned to fly home anyone stranded in Dubai as a result.

According to Flightradar24, the trouble began about two-and-a-half hours after take-off, when the aircraft dropped from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet in about a minute before making an erratic circle near the Jordanian border and landing in Tabuk in Saudi Arabia. The tracking site identified the aircraft as a Boeing 737 Max 8. Flydubai said crew members on board helped secure the plane, but gave no further details.

Philip Kean, head of the New Zealand flight school where the Indian captain trained, called the landing "miraculous", saying the aircraft was "never, ever kind of designed for that sort of dive and survive that, the airplane actually didn't break up completely". Trump also praised Boeing, saying the plane withstood forces and strain beyond what it was designed for.

During the search for a place to land, a person who heard the flight's communications with air traffic control said the aircraft was turned away by Saudi Arabia and Jordan before eventually landing in Tabuk, while passengers could be heard screaming in the background. The pilot's voice was said to be trembling as he declared "mayday" and reported that a hijacking was taking place. The air traffic controllers gave no reason for the refusals.

The investigation is now focused on what led to the alleged attack in the cockpit, as officials from several countries coordinate inquiries into an incident that left the captain injured, forced passengers to intervene and ended with the damaged aircraft landing safely in Saudi Arabia.