{"id":632552,"date":"2026-09-30T22:50:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T22:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/632552\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T22:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T22:50:10","slug":"pilot-stabbed-his-co-pilot-in-apparent-attempt-to-crash-israel-bound-plane-netanyahu-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/632552\/","title":{"rendered":"Pilot stabbed his co-pilot in apparent attempt to crash Israel-bound plane, Netanyahu says"},"content":{"rendered":"

TEL AVIV \u2014 A pilot stabbed his co-pilot aboard a plane headed to Israel <\/a>on Wednesday and may have tried to crash the aircraft with 174 people on board, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday that the attack was \u201can incredible story.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI did speak to Bibi Netanyahu at length about this event, and it seems as though the co-pilot was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job, and he stabbed the pilot,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

Passengers lived through scenes of terror as the Flydubai flight approaching Tel Aviv shook violently and abruptly plummeted. The flight had originated in Dubai.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was a plane malfunction, but then I started hearing screaming about the stabbings,\u201d Aviatar Alevi, a 17-year-old student, told NBC News. \u201cThen I understood the weight of the actual situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alevi said he thought he was going to die as he felt the plane rapidly descend, with \u201cscreaming, people running, panicking, blood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another passenger, Motti Cohen Or, 70, told NBC News that he heard a woman shouting that \u201csomeone is stabbing someone in the cockpit\u201d before the aircraft dived \u201ctoward the ground.\u201d <\/p>\n

Flight data indicates the Boeing 737, flight number FZ 1073, plunged by 14,125 feet in just 29 seconds, according to Flightradar24.<\/p>\n

All Flydubai flights to and from Israel have been temporarily suspended as authorities continue their investigation into what occurred on Flight FZ 1073, a spokesperson for the airline said in a statement.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis temporary suspension will allow the relevant authorities to continue their work and establish all the facts surrounding the incident,\u201d the spokesperson said in the statement.<\/p>\n

The midair incident led to a diversion and an emergency landing at Saudi Arabia\u2019s Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport, known as Tabuk Airport. A rescue flight later brought passengers to Israel\u2019s Ben Gurion Airport.<\/p>\n

At Ben Gurion, Netanyahu personally thanked a passenger still wearing a bloodied T-shirt, who told cameras he was among those to enter the cockpit and subdue the attacking pilot. Netanyahu\u2019s office named the man as Yaniv Hayun.<\/p>\n

Hayun told reporters at Ben Gurion that he and three other passengers helped in the effort to save the plane and those aboard.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank God, we pulled it off. We really put our heads together and worked as a team,\u201d Hayun said. <\/p>\n

The group struggled to open the cockpit door.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe managed to get it open, but what made it difficult for us was the pilot himself \u2014 he had been stabbed and was on the other side of the door,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was between fear and a sense of a do-or-die situation,\u201d Hayun added. \u201cWe had to win; we had to pull through and come out on top.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israeli officials also praised the stabbed pilot, identified as Indian national Captain Smit Machchhar, for his actions in opening the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to rush in, secure the cockpit and prevent the plane from crashing. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals,\u201d Netanyahu said on X<\/a>. \u201cI wish Captain Machchhar a speedy and full recovery. He is a true hero.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video from on board appeared to show two people lying on the floor, visibly bloodied as others crowd around them. <\/p>\n

Machchhar is in stable condition in a hospital in Saudi Arabia, according to the Indian Embassy<\/a> in Riyadh.<\/p>\n

Four U.S. citizens, who are dual nationals, were on the flight, per two U.S. officials.<\/p>\n

\"APTOPIXPassengers from the earlier diverted Flydubai flight arrive at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport on Wednesday.Ariel Schalit \/ AP<\/p>\n

Prime minister\u2019s spokesperson Doron Spielman said that \u201cthere is a strong opinion\u201d that the incident was a terror attack, \u201cbut we can\u2019t be sure until we debrief everybody.\u201d <\/p>\n

No country or terror organization has claimed the incident.<\/p>\n

The pilot who committed the stabbing, who is in custody in Saudi Arabia, is believed to be a citizen of Oman, an Israeli official tells NBC News.<\/p>\n

Two senior U.S. law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation also told NBC News that investigators say the pilot who began stabbing the co-pilot is from Oman. <\/p>\n

The officials did not name that pilot. <\/p>\n

The Omani Embassy in the U.S. did not immediately respond to a request for comment. <\/p>\n

An investigation by Saudi authorities is ongoing, David Mencer, a spokesperson for the Israeli Prime Minister\u2019s Office, said.<\/p>\n

The stabbing increasingly looks like an act of terrorism based on the early results from the investigation, according to a senior U.S. official briefed on the Israeli investigation and a Saudi official briefed on the investigation. <\/p>\n

The spokesperson for the Saudi Embassy in the U.S., Hessa Alyahya, said authorities were waiting to determine whether the attack was a dispute between the pilots or whether it was an act sponsored by Iran or the Houthis. She said it was expected that more would be known within 24 hours.<\/p>\n

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister of the United Arab Emirates, and Israel\u2019s foreign affairs minister, Gideon Sa\u2019ar, spoke on the phone Wednesday afternoon. <\/p>\n

According to the UAE Foreign Affairs Ministry, <\/a>Al Nahyan asked about the safety of passengers on the Flydubai flight, which had \u201cexperienced a security incident that was successfully brought under control\u201d and wished \u201cgood health and well-being\u201d for the passengers.<\/p>\n

There are no indications that Iran directed or was involved in today\u2019s attack, a senior U.S. official briefed on the Israeli investigation told NBC News.<\/p>\n

The preliminary Israeli investigation strongly suggests that the incident was an attempted terrorist attack by the Omani pilot who stabbed his co-pilot, the official said.<\/p>\n

The aircraft was \u201csuccessfully secured\u201d and landed by on-duty crew traveling on board, Flydubai said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this early stage, the underlying reasons and motives behind this event are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation,\u201d the airline said, adding: \u201cWe urge all parties to refrain from premature speculation while authorities gather the facts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz meanwhile told Israeli media the incident \u201cwas a jihadist terrorist attack attempt,\u201d without saying how he reached that conclusion.<\/p>\n

\"FlyDubaiA still image taken from video verified by NBC News shows a chaotic scene on the Flydubai plane as a man covered in blood receives treatment.via Telegram<\/p>\n

After hours on the ground in Saudi Arabia, the diverted passengers were brought back to Ben Gurion Airport, where they were greeted by well-wishers waving Israeli flags and reunited with family members.<\/p>\n

Some of those returning waved to the cameras and discussed their experiences, while exhausted parents carried their young children through the terminal.<\/p>\n

Peleg Itali, 17, said there was a family with small children near him on the flight. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe mother doesn\u2019t even know what to tell them,\u201d he said. \u201cNo one knows everything, because no one knew what was going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

At least one person, a passenger in his 50s, was taken to a hospital with a \u201cchest injury,\u201d said Aryeh Myers, a paramedic with Magen David Adom, Israel\u2019s national emergency agency. Myers described the person\u2019s health condition as \u201cmild.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PassengersPassengers from the earlier diverted Flydubai flight arrive in Israel.Jack Guez \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Earlier, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee<\/a> expressed relief on X<\/a> that the incident didn\u2019t turn out to be \u201cmore serious.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThis had everyone in the Middle East (esp Israel) on FULL ALERT this morning,\u201d he said. \u201cHaving pilots inflight detouring to \u2018fist city\u2019 not your ordinary experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters that domestically, the TSA will continue to be \u201cat high alert,\u201d adding: \u201cWe have no credible threats to us right now that would coordinate what took place over there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The incident comes at a time of high tensions in Israel ahead of next month\u2019s parliamentary election<\/a>, a key test for Netanyahu as he faces discontent over Gaza and Iran. The leader has made national security a core part of his platform ahead of the vote on Oct. 27, while also facing pressure from hardliners who favor a more aggressive stance in the West Bank.<\/a><\/p>\n

Matt Bradley and Yarden Segev reported from Tel Aviv, Chantal Da Silva and Raf Sanchez from London and Nicole Acevedo from New York.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TEL AVIV \u2014 A pilot stabbed his co-pilot aboard a plane headed to Israel on Wednesday and may…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":632553,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":["post-632552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}