Captains and Passengers Intervene to Foil Cockpit Attack on FlyDubai Flight

Leaders hail Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar as a hero after he and passengers intervened to foil a cockpit attack and emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on a FlyDubai flight.

Key points

• FlyDubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv suffered a cockpit attack by a co-pilot, leading to a steep plunge before an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
• Wounded Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar managed to open the cockpit door, enabling passengers and crew to subdue the attacker.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Captain Machchhar for his bravery in preventing a major disaster.
• A second crew of pilots on board ultimately took the controls to land the aircraft safely with 174 people on board.

Why it matters

The foiled cockpit attack highlights critical aviation security vulnerabilities during international commercial flights and averted a catastrophic mid-air disaster.