flydubai flight horror: 'Indian-origin' captain stopped co-pilot from crashing plane
What's the story
The captain, who fought the co-pilot of the flydubai FZ1073 and thwarted a suspected terror attack, was reportedly of Indian origin. Times of Israel reported that the captain is an Emirati citizen and the co-pilot an Omani. Reports from Israel's YNet News and Channel 12 said that the captain was stabbed but managed to prevent the plane from crashing, thus saving the lives of over 180 people on board, most of whom were Israelis.
Emergency landing
Cabin crew intervened, took control of aircraft
Israeli officials believe it was an attempt to seize control of the jet and crash it.
Passengers told Hebrew media it appeared the co-pilot had stabbed the captain, at which point the plane went out of control.
Publicly available data shows that two hours and 15 minutes into the flight, the plane suddenly nosedived from 34,000 feet to around 17,000 feet in under a minute.
The plane then climbed slightly to 21,650 feet before dropping again to under 14,000 feet.
Flight details
Captain could be seen covered in blood
In a dramatic video from the plane, moments after the alleged attack, the captain could be seen covered in blood on the floor, outside the cockpit, as passengers tended to him.
One Israeli passenger told the person filming, "We took control of the situation here. There was an attacker with a knife who stabbed one of the pilots."
"A few of us just jumped in and pulled him out of the cockpit. Everything is OK now."
Twitter Post
Footage taken by a passenger
Footage taken by a passenger aboard the flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv after the plane took a rapid plunge. pic.twitter.com/O3vd5644pL
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) September 30, 2026
Crew
Plane landed by off-duty pilots
"One pilot stabbed the other and tried to do 9/11 - either hijack the plane to the ground or crash it," an Israeli official was quoted as saying by N12.
After the captain was attacked, a group of Israeli passengers managed to storm the cockpit, subdued the stabber and stabilize the plane, witnesses said.
It was landed by off-duty pilots who were among the passengers.
Both the pilot and co-pilot were injured and have been hospitalized.