Omani Copilot’s Identity and Motive Still Unclear After FlyDubai Flight to Israel Narrowly Escapes Disaster
JERUSALEM (AP) — Investigators are still working to identify the motive and background of an Omani copilot accused of stabbing his captain aboard a FlyDubai flight from the United Arab Emirates to Israel, an attack that sent the plane into a dangerous plunge and forced an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, authorities said Thursday.
Passengers on the flight, which was carrying 174 people to Tel Aviv, described a chaotic scene in which the bloodied Indian captain managed to open the cockpit door and let them inside. They then helped restrain the copilot and stabilize the aircraft as it descended so sharply that part of its rudder was torn away, according to their accounts.
“We felt helpless, suspended in midair, and I didn’t know who to turn to. But it was all instinct to survive,” said Asaf Rajuan, one of those who responded, in a statement released by Israel’s presidency.
Saudi and Emirati authorities have said little publicly beyond confirming that investigations are underway. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the copilot was arrested.
Capt. Smit Machchhar, widely praised as another hero of the flight, was in stable condition, the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia said overnight. The condition of the arrested copilot was not immediately clear.
In a CNN interview aired Wednesday evening, Netanyahu said the attacker was an Omani national and was being interrogated in Saudi Arabia.
U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that he and Netanyahu discussed the incident “at length” by phone and that it appeared the copilot “was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job.”
Netanyahu said he spoke with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who agreed that Israel would join the interrogation of the suspect.
Israel’s foreign ministry said those on board were from Israel, India and the UAE. The U.S. State Department said four passengers had American citizenship.
FlyDubai said its flights to and from Israel would be suspended while the investigation takes place.
The incident unfolded about two and a half hours after the flight left Dubai. According to Flightradar24, which identified the aircraft as a Boeing 737 Max 8, the plane dropped from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet (about 10,000 meters to 5,100 meters) in roughly a minute, then made an erratic circle near the Jordanian border before landing in the Saudi city of Tabuk about an hour later.
A person who heard the flight’s communications with air traffic control said the plane was turned away by Saudi Arabia and Jordan before it eventually landed in Tabuk, with passengers screaming in the background. The pilot’s voice was trembling as he called “mayday” and said a hijacking was taking place, the person said.
The air traffic controllers gave no reason for the refusals, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Netanyahu had warned in recent days of unspecified, heightened security threats. The incident also comes about a week before the anniversary of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which triggered the war in Gaza.
The episode is rare in commercial aviation. Cockpit security has been tightened worldwide since the Sept. 11 attacks, and successful breaches or attacks by a crew member are extremely uncommon. It also tests the closely watched travel and diplomatic link between Israel and the UAE, established under the 2020 Abraham Accords, at a time of heightened regional tension. A prolonged suspension of FlyDubai’s Israel service could affect travelers and add uncertainty to a route that has been seen as a sign of normalized ties.
Associated Press writer Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed.