'Hero' pilot stabbed by other pilot on Israel-bound plane, Israeli PM says
A pilot on a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was stabbed by his co-pilot in an incident that caused the plane to descend rapidly. Passengers and crew successfully intervened, and the plane landed safely in Saudi Arabia; the injured pilot is in stable condition.
Why it matters
The incident raises major aviation security concerns and has prompted high-level political reactions regarding potential terrorism.
A pilot has been arrested after he stabbed the other pilot on a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv and "apparently tried to crash the plane", Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said.
Passengers and crew overpowered the attacker and retook control of the Flydubai aircraft, landing it safely at an airport in Tabuk, northwestern Saudi Arabia, with more than 170 people on board.
The passengers, who were almost all Israeli, arrived later on Wednesday to Tel Aviv on a repatriation flight.
The stabbed pilot, named as Indian national Captain Smit Machchhar, has been taken to hospital but is reported to be in a stable condition. Netanyahu praised him as a "true hero" of "extraordinary bravery".
"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," Netanyahu wrote on X.
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