Archive · 1 Oct 2026
Israeli Passenger Helps Save Flydubai Flight After Cockpit Attack
A Flydubai plane was traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv when a fight began in the cockpit.
Captain Smit Machchhar was badly hurt, and the plane started falling quickly.
Passenger Yaniv Hayun said the captain opened the cockpit door before collapsing.
Hayun and other passengers entered and pulled the co-pilot away from the controls.
Hayun then helped pull the controls back so the plane could stop diving.
Two off-duty pilots among the passengers later took over flying the plane.
The aircraft landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Investigators are still trying to learn why the fight happened and what the co-pilot intended.
Yaniv Hayun said he and other passengers entered the cockpit after injured Captain Smit Machchhar opened the door.
Hayun said he pulled the Omani co-pilot away from the controls and helped restrain him.
Flight FZ1073 plunged nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds during the cockpit confrontation, according to Reuters-cited tracking data.
Hayun said he pulled back the aircraft’s controls after watching the television program Air Crash Investigations.
Two off-duty pilots later took control, and the aircraft made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
- Who
- Passenger Yaniv Hayun, Captain Smit Machchhar, the Omani co-pilot, other passengers, and two off-duty pilots were involved.
- What
- A cockpit confrontation allegedly involving a stabbing caused a rapid descent, while passengers intervened and helped stabilize the aircraft.
- When
- Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026; Reuters published its account on Oct. 1.
- Where
- Flydubai flight FZ1073 was traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv before diverting to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
- Why
- The confrontation occurred in the cockpit, but the co-pilot’s motive and the precise trigger remain under investigation.
Passenger Accounts
Investigation Caveats
How the crisis was handled
Passenger Accounts
Hayun said he pulled the co-pilot away from the controls, helped pull back the aircraft’s controls, and acted after recognizing the situation from Air Crash Investigations. Other accounts credit several passengers with restraining the co-pilot and assisting the injured captain.
Investigation Caveats
The reports do not provide a final official reconstruction of each passenger’s role. Accounts differ on whether Hayun entered with another passenger or a crew member, and on the number of Israeli passengers involved.
What motivated the confrontation
Passenger Accounts
Hayun described the co-pilot as an attacker and said passengers had to remove him from the cockpit after an apparent stabbing.
Investigation Caveats
Hayun said he did not know whether the co-pilot intended to crash the aircraft. Authorities had not established the motive or definitively explained what triggered the confrontation.
Who deserves recognition
Passenger Accounts
Israeli leaders praised Hayun, Machchhar, and other passengers; President Isaac Herzog nominated Hayun and several others for the Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism.
Investigation Caveats
Hayun and another passenger, Asaf Rajuan, rejected or downplayed the hero label, describing their actions as an instinctive effort to protect their families and everyone aboard.
- Flight
- Flydubai FZ1073
- Route
- Dubai to Tel Aviv
- People aboard
- 174 people
- Rapid descent
- Nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds, according to flight-tracking data cited by Reuters
- Emergency landing
- Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
- Injured captain
- Indian pilot Smit Machchhar was seriously injured and taken to a hospital in Saudi Arabia
- Passenger intervention
- Yaniv Hayun and other passengers subdued the co-pilot and helped with the aircraft controls
- Investigation
- Saudi authorities arrested the Omani national identified as the co-pilot; the motive had not been established
