Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has identified the pilot stabbed aboard a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv as Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, praising him for helping prevent a disaster.
Mr Netanyahu said Captain Machchhar showed “extraordinary bravery” after being attacked and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the co-pilot.
“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,” he said.
The pilot is being treated at a hospital in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where the aircraft landed safely. The Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia said he was reported to be in a stable condition and wished him a speedy recovery.
“A full update on his health is awaited but he is reported to be in stable condition,” the embassy said. It added that it was in contact with his family and Saudi authorities.
The co-pilot, identified by an Israeli official as an Omani citizen, was arrested after the Flydubai flight landed. Saudi authorities are expected to interrogate him.
Israeli officials said the co-pilot tried to crash the aircraft after stabbing Captain Machchhar. The airline said the reasons for the incident remained unknown and warned against “premature speculation”.
Mr Netanyahu described the incident as “a highly severe security incident” and said the flight had more than 170 Israelis on board. He said all passengers were out of harm’s way and ordered tighter security on Israeli and non-Israeli carriers flying into Israel.
He quoted a passenger as saying the aircraft “entered a tailspin and began to dive”, before passengers and a crew member broke into the cockpit and found the co-pilot “trying to sabotage the plane’s systems”.
A second pair of pilots who had been due to replace the original crew landed the aircraft in Saudi Arabia. The passengers later continued to Israel on a Flydubai replacement flight, which landed after they had spent eight hours on the ground.
Flight data showed the aircraft descended by nearly 14,000ft, or about 4,000 metres, in less than 30 seconds before an emergency signal was sent on Wednesday morning.
A passenger’s relative said she had been told there was screaming on board, while a man holding a knife forced one of the pilots to the floor. Israeli media also published a photograph purportedly taken inside the aircraft showing a passenger’s blood-soaked shirt.
Israel’s transport ministry said it would conduct a joint investigation with the defence establishment. Both pilots were hospitalised after sustaining injuries, according to Tabuk airport.
