Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Thursday of a "suicidal" act linked to "radical Islamist indoctrination" of the Omani co-pilot suspected of having stabbed the captain to cause a crash of the Flydubai flight.

Published on: 01/10/2026 - 11:38 Modified on: 02/10/2026 - 08:08

What happened on the Flydubai flight? The United Arab Emirates opened an investigation on Thursday, October 1, into a possible "terrorist" trail, with Israel pointing to "Islamist indoctrination" of the co-pilot suspected of having wanted to cause a crash.

The day after the emergency landing in Saudi Arabia of the plane going to Tel Aviv, with 174 people on board, including 166 Israelis according to the media, the profile and motivations of the suspect remain unclear. According to travelers' accounts, he stabbed the captain to cause the plane to crash, causing a sudden loss of altitude, before passengers rushed into the cockpit to subdue him.

Speaking for the first time on this case, Saudi authorities confirmed on Thursday that the co-pilot had attacked his colleague during the flight, without giving further information on his motives. They said the suspect had been transferred to the United Arab Emirates.

Israel celebrates its “heroes”

In Israel, "the heroes" who overpowered the co-pilot were hailed in the street, on social networks and on television sets, a rare moment of unity in an ultra-divided country as the legislative elections approach.

Among them Yaniv Hayoun, a plumber, who said he kicked the co-pilot out of the cockpit, before righting the plane thanks to piloting skills acquired while watching television. His photo, in an outfit stained with the attacker's blood, made the front pages of several newspapers on Thursday.

Also read “Super hero of the sky”: who is Smit Machchhar, this pilot who avoided the worst on the Flydubai flight?

He will receive the Presidential Award for Citizen Heroism, one of the highest civilian distinctions, alongside four other passengers: a woman, "the first" to have alerted, two other men who overpowered the suspect, and a dentist who would have provided emergency care to the pilot, according to the presidency.

India paid tribute to its pilot: “Commander Smit Machchhar is a HERO”, wrote the head of the Indian government, Narendra Modi, on X. Transferred from Saudi Arabia to the Emirates, he is in “good health and recovering well”, according to the embassy in Abu Dhabi.

Now it's time for the investigation: the Attorney General of the United Arab Emirates, quoted by state media, announced his opening in order to determine "to what extent the incident is linked to terrorist activity or intention".

Without delay, Israel denounced on Wednesday an “attempted jihadist terrorist attack”, targeting in particular the Emirates and the Abraham Accords which normalized relations between the two countries in 2020.

Pilot was 'suicidal,' says Netanyahu

According to Benjamin Netanyahu, who did not rule out the possibility of an act linked to psychiatric problems, the co-pilot, of Omani nationality, "had undergone radical Islamist indoctrination". "He shouted 'Kill me, kill me', okay. So it's clear that he was suicidal (...) It's clear that he intended to crash the plane," he said on the American channel Fox News. "We could find ourselves today facing a tragedy comparable to that of September 11, with bodies scattered in the desert."

Read alsoFlydubaï: A BBC deepfake incriminates India and Israel

Flydubai called for its part to “refrain from any premature speculation”, stressing that the reasons for the altercation between the two pilots were at this stage “unknown”.

The company suspended flights to and from Israel while the investigation continues.

With AFP

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