Dubai (AFP) – The Indian captain stabbed by his co-pilot aboard a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv recounted his last-ditch effort to prevent the plane from crashing, in initial statements made public on Friday.
Published on: 02/10/2026 - 2:00 p.m. Modified on: 02/10/2026 - 10:08 p.m.
“I was trying to save my life, but I knew I couldn't let all these people die,” Smit Machchhar said from his hospital bed during a call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose office relayed the footage.
He was lying on the cockpit floor when he realized the plane was falling.
“I knew it was my last chance and that the door was right there,” said Smit Machchhar, a pilot for 17 years and captain for 11 years, hailed everywhere as “a hero”. “I was still getting beaten up, but I just opened the door and everyone came in.”
Passengers and crew members then overpowered the attacker and regained control of the aircraft, which was able to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
The exact circumstances of the incident and the motivations, still unclear, of the attacker, are the subject of an investigation in the United Arab Emirates, where the two pilots were transferred.
“The more time passes, the more the situation becomes clearer: the attacker suffered Islamist radicalization,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The man, of Omani nationality, “intended to crash the plane with its passengers,” he said.
“We are checking as part of the investigation whether it was sent by someone” and, if so, “they will pay a high price,” he added in a video address.
The head of the Israeli government did not present any evidence to support his suspicions, and did not say whether they related to an organization or a country.
"Far from hasty simplifications (...) and conspiracy theories, vigilance and caution remain essential in the face of the dangers of extremism and terrorism", noted on X the diplomatic advisor to the Emirati president, Anwar Gargash, however evoking a "serious terrorist act".
First Israeli repatriation flight
During an exchange with the press at the White House, Donald Trump said he believed that Iran was involved.
“I would say the answer is yes, based on what I'm hearing, but we're working on that right now,” said the American president, no stranger to sweeping statements.
Flydubai called for “refrain from any premature speculation”.
The flight carried 174 people, including 166 Israelis and eight crew members, and the passengers were returned to Israel that evening.
But flydubai suspended flights to and from Israel during the investigation, stranding Israeli visitors in Dubai. A first repatriation flight, operated by the Israeli low-cost company Arkia, took off Friday evening towards Tel Aviv.
The Israeli company El Al, which had announced it would charter two special flights to repatriate them, then canceled the flights without giving a reason.
El Al had suspended its flights between Israel and Dubai after the outbreak of war in the Middle East, which began with Israeli-American strikes against Iran on February 28.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog announced his intention to award one of the country's highest civilian honors to five Israeli passengers who distinguished themselves by their "collective responsibility" to prevent the plane from crashing.
bur-apz-mdh/dth
© 2026 AFP
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