Israel PM hails Indian pilot wounded in diverted flydubai flight

Sep 30, 2026, 08:45 PM· 32 minutes ago· Original: EN

Israel’s leader credited the Indian pilot of a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight, as well as the aircraft’s passengers, with averting catastrophe on Wednesday after the man was attacked by his co-pilot, sparking a fight for control of the aircraft and forcing an emergency landing. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the co-pilot of the flydubai jet had been trying to crash it and kill all its passengers, with Israel’s foreign ministry denouncing the incident as “an attempted terrorist attack” aimed at...

Smit Machchhar is being treated in Saudi Arabia after his co-pilot allegedly attacked him and tried to crash the Tel Aviv-bound flight

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the Indian pilot who was wounded in an altercation with his co-pilot who allegedly tried to crash a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight on Wednesday.

“My salute to the Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar for his extraordinary bravery. Despite being stabbed and seriously injured, he fought back... preventing a catastrophic mid-air disaster. He saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals,” Netanyahu said on social media.

Delhi’s embassy in Saudi Arabia said the pilot was being treated in a hospital in Tabuk following the emergency landing there earlier in the day.

Flight FZ 1073, originally from Dubai to Tel Aviv, had been diverted following what passengers and Israeli officials described as a violent attempt by one pilot to kill the other.

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Israel PM hails Indian pilot wounded in diverted flydubai flight

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