BBC reports that Flydubai captain Smit Machchhar said he was determined to prevent further deaths after his co-pilot stabbed him aboard flight FZ1073, bound from Dubai to Tel Aviv. The aircraft descended more than 17,000 feet about two and a half hours into the flight before passengers intervened and two reserve pilots landed it at Tabuk Airport in north-western Saudi Arabia.
Machchhar told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a video call that he was injured on the cockpit floor when he realized the aircraft was descending. He said he made a final push to open the cockpit door from inside, allowing others to enter and help control the situation. The BBC reports that passengers overpowered the attacker and two reserve pilots aboard landed the plane at 06:58 local time.
The flight first sent an emergency signal to air traffic controllers and then transmitted squawk 7500, a code indicating hijacking, according to the report. Machchhar was taken to a hospital in Tabuk and later airlifted to Abu Dhabi. The Indian embassy in the UAE said on Thursday that he was in good health and recovering well.
The BBC attributes to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the claim that the co-pilot stabbed Machchhar and apparently tried to crash the aircraft. Netanyahu also said the attacker was an Omani national and described him as suicidal. The UAE has begun investigating whether the incident was linked to terrorist activity, according to the country’s state news agency as cited by the BBC. The report gives no final investigative finding.
Recovery after the cockpit attack
The Guardian’s October 2 account also describes his aviation experience, faith and expectation of a gradual recovery.
Additional source: The Guardian.
