An off-duty British pilot helped prevent a potential “9/11-style” disaster after a Flydubai passenger jet plunged thousands of feet when one of its pilots allegedly stabbed his colleague and attempted to seize control of the aircraft.
The British pilot was among two relief pilots travelling on the flight and helped stabilise and land the stricken Boeing 737 after passengers and crew subdued the alleged attacker.
Flydubai Flight FZ1073 was travelling from Dubai to Israel when the aircraft plunged from around 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet in approximately a minute.
Passengers later described scenes of chaos inside the aircraft after the alleged attack in the cockpit.
Almog Itali, a passenger on the flight, told the BBC that two relief pilots were also aboard and intervened after the confrontation.
“There were two pilots in the front, one stabbed the other, and there were two spare pilots who were supposed to operate the next flight,” he said.
“The relief pilots are European, one of them British, who entered and pulled the aircraft up, pulled the yoke, stabilised the plane and landed us in Saudi Arabia.”
Flydubai subsequently said the aircraft had been “successfully secured by on-duty crew travelling on the flight”.
The identities of the pilots involved have not been disclosed.
The flight, carrying 174 passengers, was forced to divert to Saudi Arabia after the alleged attack. The suspect was arrested and is being questioned by Saudi authorities.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz described the incident as an “attempted jihadist terror attack”, saying it had been thwarted by the actions of passengers.
Indian national Smit Machchhar, identified as the pilot’s alleged victim, was praised for fighting back despite being seriously injured and opening the cockpit door.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Machchhar’s actions as “extraordinary bravery”.
“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,” Netanyahu said.
“He saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals.”
Israeli passenger Yaniv Hayun was also praised for helping restrain the alleged attacker after entering the cockpit.
Hayun later described the confrontation during a meeting with Netanyahu, saying he saw one pilot at the controls while the other was on the floor.
“I grabbed the attacker, put him in a chokehold, and pulled him – first and foremost – outside,” he said.
“We pulled him out; it was a matter of seconds. I called out to the Israeli guys with us on the plane – I called them, and two other guys came over to me… we pinned [the attacker] down to keep him secure.”
Asked by Netanyahu how he knew what to do, Hayun replied: “I watch Air Crash Investigation, Mr Prime Minister.”
Another passenger, Zvika Meness, told Israeli public broadcaster Kahn that passengers managed to restrain the suspect using “his own zip ties and with the multimedia headphones”.
The incident has raised questions over how the aircraft lost altitude so rapidly and what the alleged attacker intended to do after the confrontation began.
The aircraft ultimately reached Saudi Arabia safely, where authorities took the suspect into custody.
The full circumstances of the incident, including the motive behind the alleged attack and the precise sequence of events inside the cockpit, remain under investigation.
But the intervention of the off-duty British pilot, the injured crew member and passengers who forced their way into the cockpit appears to have prevented a potentially catastrophic outcome aboard the flight.
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