{"id":226109,"date":"2026-09-30T20:09:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T20:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/pilot-stabbed-fellow-pilot-in-apparent-attempt-to-crash-israel-bound-plane-netanyahu-says-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T20:09:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T20:09:14","slug":"pilot-stabbed-fellow-pilot-in-apparent-attempt-to-crash-israel-bound-plane-netanyahu-says-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/pilot-stabbed-fellow-pilot-in-apparent-attempt-to-crash-israel-bound-plane-netanyahu-says-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Pilot stabbed fellow pilot in apparent attempt to crash Israel-bound plane, Netanyahu says – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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TEL AVIV \u2014 A pilot stabbed his co-pilot aboard a plane headed to Israel <\/a>on Wednesday and may have tried to crash the aircraft with 174 people onboard, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> said.
Passengers lived through scenes of terror as the Flydubai flight approaching Tel Aviv shook violently and abruptly plummeted. The flight had originated in Dubai.
\u201cI thought it was a plane malfunction, but then I started hearing screaming about the stabbings,\u201d Aviatar Alevi, a 17-year-old student, told NBC News. \u201cThen I understood the weight of the actual situation.\u201d
Alevi said he thought he was going to die as he felt the plane rapidly descend, with \u201cscreaming, people running, panicking, blood.\u201d
Another passenger, Motti Cohen Or, 70, told NBC News that he heard a woman shouting that \u201csomeone is stabbing someone in the cockpit\u201d before the aircraft dived \u201ctoward the ground.\u201d
Flight data indicates the Boeing 737, flight number FZ 1073, plunged by 14,125 feet in just 29 seconds, according to Flightradar24.
The midair incident led to a diversion and an emergency landing at Saudi Arabia\u2019s Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport, known as Tabuk Airport. A rescue flight later brought passengers to Israel\u2019s Ben Gurion Airport.
At Ben Gurion, Netanyahu personally thanked a passenger still wearing a bloodied T-shirt, who told cameras he was among those to enter the cockpit and subdue the attacking pilot. Netanyahu\u2019s office named the man as Yaniv Hayun.
Israeli officials also praised the stabbed pilot, identified as Indian national Captain Smit Machchhar, for his actions in opening the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to rush in, secure the cockpit and prevent the plane from crashing.
\u201cHe saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals,\u201d Netanyahu said in an X post<\/a>. \u201cI wish Captain Machchhar a speedy and full recovery. He is a true hero.\u201d
Video from onboard appeared to show two people lying on the floor, visibly bloodied as others crowd around them.
Machchhar is in stable condition in a hospital in Saudi Arabia, according to the Indian embassy<\/a> in Riyadh.
Four U.S. citizens, who are dual nationals, were on the flight, per two U.S. officials.
Prime minister\u2019s spokesperson Doron Spielman said that \u201cthere is a strong opinion\u201d that the incident was a terror attack, \u201cbut we can\u2019t be sure until we debrief everybody.\u201d
No country or terror organization has claimed the incident.
The pilot who committed the stabbing, who is in custody in Saudi Arabia, is believed to be a citizen of Oman, an Israeli official tells NBC News.
An investigation by Saudi authorities is ongoing, David Mencer, a spokesperson for the Israeli Prime Minister\u2019s Office, said.
The aircraft was \u201csuccessfully secured\u201d and landed by on-duty crew traveling onboard, Flydubai said.
\u201cAt this early stage, the underlying reasons and motives behind this event are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation,\u201d the airline said, adding: \u201cWe urge all parties to refrain from premature speculation while authorities gather the facts.\u201d
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz meanwhile told Israeli media the incident \u201cwas a jihadist terrorist attack attempt,\u201d without saying how he reached that conclusion.
After hours on the ground in Saudi Arabia, the diverted passengers were brought back to Ben Gurion Airport, where they were greeted by well-wishers waving Israeli flags and reunited with family members.
Some of those returning waved to the cameras and discussed their experiences, while exhausted parents carried their young children through the terminal.
Peleg Itali, 17, said there was a family with small children near him on the flight.
\u201cThe mother doesn\u2019t even know what to tell them,\u201d he said. \u201cNo one knows everything, because no one knew what was going on.\u201d
At least one person, a passenger in his 50s, was taken to a the hospital with a \u201cchest injury,\u201d said Aryeh Myers, a paramedic with Magen David Adom, Israel\u2019s national emergency agency. Myers described the person\u2019s health condition as \u201cmild.\u201d
Earlier, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee<\/a> expressed relief in a post <\/a>on X that the incident didn\u2019t turn out to be \u201cmore serious.\u201d
\u201cThis had everyone in the Middle East (esp Israel) on FULL ALERT this morning,\u201d he said. \u201cHaving pilots inflight detouring to \u2018fist city\u2019 not your ordinary experience.\u201d
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters that domestically, the TSA will continue to be \u201cat high alert,\u201d adding: \u201cWe have no credible threats to us right now that would coordinate what took place over there.\u201d
The incident comes at a time of high tensions in Israel ahead of next month\u2019s parliamentary election<\/a>, a key test for Netanyahu as he faces discontent over Gaza and Iran. The leader has made national security a core part of his platform ahead of the vote on October 27, while also facing pressure from hardliners who favor a more aggressive stance in the West Bank.<\/a>
Matt Bradley and Yarden Segev reported from Tel Aviv. Chantal Da Silva and Raf Sanchez reported from London. Nicole Acevedo reported from New York.<\/em>
Matt Bradley is an international correspondent for NBC News based in Israel.
Yarden Segev is a news coordinator for NBC News based in Israel.
Chantal Da Silva reports on world news for NBC News Digital and is based in London.
Raf Sanchez is a foreign correspondent for NBC News.
Nicole Acevedo is a news reporter for NBC News.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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For YouSettings news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeTEL AVIV \u2014 A pilot stabbed his co-pilot aboard a plane headed to Israel on Wednesday and may have tried to crash the aircraft with 174 people onboard, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.Passengers lived through scenes of terror as the Flydubai flight approaching Tel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":226110,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-226109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}