flydubai flight FZ1073 was meant to be a routine hop from Dubai to Tel Aviv. Instead, it dived nearly 18,000 feet after a fight broke out in the cockpit, and the flight captain, Indian national Smit Machchhar, was stabbed.
Israeli officials said the co-pilot, reportedly an Omani national, tried to crash the plane before passengers overpowered and restrained him, and other off-roster pilots landed the plane safely in Saudi Arabia.
However, his motive behind the move has not been confirmed, and he is yet to be charged. Israel’s transportation minister, Miri Regev, has called for the country’s Civil Aviation Authority to investigate whether the United Arab Emirates has breached its aviation agreement by allowing the co-pilot to fly the plane, the Times of Israel reported. The plane was cruising at around 34,000 feet when it suddenly dropped nearly 18,000 feet in minutes after the struggle between pilots broke out in the cockpit, resulting in the lead pilot being attacked.
Now, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the co-pilot, who has yet to be officially identified, is in custody. The pilot said the alleged attacker joined flydubai just eight months ago. “He prayed excessively throughout the day and refused to shake hands with women,” he added. “This is a clear breach of the agreement,” a Transportation Ministry source told the Jerusalem Post. The flight issued two distress warnings — one being a 7500 code, which signals a hijacking — before Machchhar, covered in his own blood, managed to draw on “the last moments of his energy” to click open the release on the cockpit door, Netanyahu’s office said. The attacker and the injured pilot have since been hospitalised, according to Israeli media reports.
