(CNN) — A horrific mid-air catastrophe on a plane heading to Tel Aviv was averted in a stunning turn of events on Wednesday when passengers and crew bravely rushed into the cockpit and regained control of the aircraft.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a pilot stabbed his colleague on a Flydubai plane and tried to “sabotage the aircraft’s system.” It plunged the aircraft thousands of feet in two minutes, causing panic and forcing the flight to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
The pilot who allegedly tried to crash the plane has yet to be named.
The other pilot, identified as Smit Machchhar from India, fought back and “managed to prevent a 9/11 disaster,” Netanyahu told CNN’s Jim Sciutto. “What distinguishes this incident from the other tragic attacks was at this time, the good guys won,” Netanyahu said.
A spokesperson for the airline said that on-duty Flydubai crew members “successfully secured” the aircraft and landed it safely at Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk Airport, where passengers boarded onto a different flight to return to Israel.
The suspected attacker has since been detained and is being questioned by Saudi authorities, Netanyahu added, but questions remain around how the incident unfolded and what motivated the pilot to instigate the bloody altercation.
What happened onboard?
Flydubai flight FZ1073 departed Dubai at 6:05 a.m. local time (10:05 p.m. ET) and began flying west to its destination near Tel Aviv. About two hours after taking off, the aircraft began quickly losing altitude and turned sharply to the north, flight tracking data showed. It descended 17,400 feet in just under two minutes.
The flight issued a distress call at 8:31 a.m., minutes before it squawked code 7500 — the International Civil Aviation Organization code to signal an aircraft hijacking.
Passengers described chaotic scenes on board the plane as the plane nosedived.
“We just felt the plane drop completely and start spinning a little, and everyone was screaming, there were children crying,” passenger Mika Bauman told CNN. “I was just sure I was going to die,” she said.
Other passengers took it upon themselves to charge into the cockpit and fight the attacker.
Yaniv Hayoun, who recounted to Netanyahu how he put the alleged attacker in a chokehold and dragged him out of the cockpit with other passengers. Hayoun said he then grabbed the plane’s controls to help bring it back under control.
Dr. Shota Musaev, a dentist on board, told CNN he tied the attacker up using headphone cords and plastic zipties. He then started tending to the wounded pilot.
Even after the attacker was restrained, passengers remained terrified.
“There was nothing but desert beneath us; we feared being taken to an enemy country or landing in the middle of the desert,” Assaf Rajuan told CNN. “We didn’t know who to trust.”
How did the plane land?
In another extraordinary turn of events, there were people on board the flight who knew how to fly a plane and were able to bring the aircraft safely down.
Netanyahu and Flydubai confirmed that reserve pilots who were in the passenger area managed to regain control of the aircraft. The flight was diverted to Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk Airport, where it touched down at 9:54 a.m.
David Soucie, a CNN aviation safety analyst, said it was fairly uncommon for additional on-duty pilots to be on flights “unless they are being repositioned for other flights.”
What happened to the pilots?
Video shared on social media and verified by CNN showed a gruesome scene onboard following the attack, where a seriously wounded pilot is seen lying on the floor of the aircraft, his pained face partially covered with a mask.
The man is seen clutching his torso with his bloodied hands. He seems in pain, but conscious. Several passengers are seen helping him and monitoring his vital signs.
Just next to him, guarded by several men, is another pilot — the man the flight’s passengers allege was the attacker. He too is wounded, lying on his side, his white shirt soaked with blood around his stomach.
The pilot who was stabbed on the Flydubai flight suffered “massive blood loss” and was “severely wounded,” Musaev, told CNN. “He was covered in cuts — his head, his hands — they were practically sliced open, almost severed in two.”
Netanyahu identified the stabbed pilot as Smit Machchhar, praising the captain as a “true hero” who demonstrated “extraordinary bravery” and saved the lives of 174 people.
“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 wrote on X.
Both the captain and co-pilot of the plane were taken to the hospital, Saudi Arabia’s leading aviation operator said.
Who was the attacker?
What remains unclear is the identity of the pilot who allegedly attacked Machchhar. Nor do we know his motive or the weapon he used in the violent altercation.
One Israeli official said that the alleged attacker was an Omani national. Oman and Israel do not have formal diplomatic relations, and it is not yet clear how the Omani pilot would have obtained clearance to fly to Israel.
Where are the passengers now?
The passengers, who Netanyahu said were “almost all” Israeli, have since traveled to Israel on a substitute Flydubai plane that was sent to Saudi Arabia, their family members told CNN.
Prior to their arrival, at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport, the families of passengers anxiously waited for their loved ones, with some carrying balloons reading “welcome” and “it’s so good to have you back home.”
After landing in Israel, Flydubai passengers were directed to a “dedicated reception area” where they met with medical teams and underwent examinations, an Israel Airports Authority spokesperson said.
A 50-year-old male passenger was taken to a hospital with an upper-body injury and is in “light condition,” according to the spokesperson.
Several Israeli officials commended the bravery of those on board the plane. Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the incident ended in a “great miracle,” adding that Israel and the UAE will “investigate the incident in depth together.”
Four American citizens who also hold Israeli nationality were among the passengers on board, according to two US officials.
What will the investigation look like?
Authorities continue to unpack the details around the harrowing incident, many of which remain murky.
A host of Israeli agencies, including Shin Bet, Mossad, the military and the country’s transportation ministry, are involved in investigating the Flydubai incident that took place this morning, an Israeli official told CNN.
One of the main questions being looked into is why the flight crew included a pilot from a country with which Israel does not have diplomatic relations, the official said.
There will also be an investigation in Saudi Arabia, who now have custody of the alleged attacker. Saudi Arabia is another Gulf nation that does not have formal diplomatic ties with Israel.
Israel enforces some of the strictest aviation security protocols in the world, after facing a history of hijackings and terminal attacks. Departing passengers are required to undergo pre-screening and questioning, in addition to multiple passport checks, advanced baggage scanning, and, sometimes, full-body screening.
Foreign airlines must obtain approval from Israel’s Aviation Security Operation Center before they can operate to and from the country’s airports.
Investigators will likely explore the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder first, Marco Chan, a senior lecturer in aviation operations at London’s Kingston University, told CNN.
They will also interview the crew, the off-duty pilots and passengers, and determine how the cockpit door was opened, how the weapon came to be on board, and the pilot’s medical and training history, he said.
How are countries responding to the security incident?
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar spoke to his UAE counterpart, Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, during which they agreed to cooperate against “extremist elements” threatening security, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said.
In the meantime, Flydubai temporarily suspended flights to and from Israel while an investigation continues, a spokesperson for the airline said later on Wednesday.
US President Donald Trump said he spoke to Netanyahu on Wednesday, calling the passengers’ efforts to subdue the attacker “the most amazing stuff.”
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said he is “deeply concerned” over the events, but “very relieved that the plane landed safely thanks to the actions of those on board.”
CNN’s Catherine Nichols, Ivana Kottasová, Zeena Saifi, Dana Karni, Michael Rios, Hira Humayun, Jeremy Diamond, Adam Cancryn, Eyad Kourdi, Sophie Tanno, and Billy Stockwell contributed to this report.
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