Flydubai stabbing incident: How a dentist, a plumber and off-duty pilots helped Captain Smit Machchhar bring plane under control

When Captain Smit Machchhar was stabbed inside the cockpit of a flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv, the aircraft plunged thousands of feet as he lay injured on the cockpit floor.

Despite his injuries, the Mumbai-born pilot managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to rush in, overpower the attacker and help regain control of the aircraft.

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What followed was a desperate effort involving passengers, a dentist and off-duty pilots, whose actions helped bring the Boeing 737 MAX safely to the ground with more than 170 people on board.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Machchhar a “hero”, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised his actions, saying he fought back and opened the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to overpower the attacker.

Captain Smit Machchhar

Machchhar, an Indian citizen from Mumbai, was stabbed by his fellow pilot, an Omani national, during the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv.

The attack sent the Boeing 737 MAX into a steep descent, with the aircraft losing nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds.

Despite being seriously injured, Machchhar managed to release the cockpit door and allow people outside to enter.

Netanyahu said Machchhar “fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door” and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker.

The aircraft eventually landed safely in Tabuk, north-western Saudi Arabia, where Machchhar was taken to hospital. Indian officials said he was in stable condition and were in contact with his family.

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Machchhar trained at New Zealand’s Mainland Air for 18 months in 2008 and 2009. The airline’s chief executive, Philip Kean, described him as an above-average pilot, adding that emergency training was one thing, but handling such a situation in real life was “a whole different story”.

Yaniv Hayoun

Yaniv Hayoun was among the passengers who entered the cockpit after the door was opened. Netanyahu described him as a plumber.

Hayoun said Machchhar was lying injured on the other side of the cockpit door when passengers entered and confronted the attacker.

As several people wrestled with the pilot, Hayoun said he moved towards the controls and began pulling them back, relying on what he had seen on television.

Other crew members then took over and helped stabilise the aircraft.

Dr Shota Musaev

Dr Shota Musaev, a dentist travelling on the flight, was another passenger who rushed towards the cockpit.

He told CNN that he found the attacker on top of Machchhar and saw him stabbing the captain.

Musaev said Machchhar was covered in cuts, particularly on his head and hands, and had lost a significant amount of blood. He feared the captain would die before medical help arrived.

Musaev also helped restrain the attacker, using headphone cords and plastic zip ties to tie him up.

The off-duty pilots

Passengers also reported that two relief pilots were travelling on the aircraft and entered the cockpit during the emergency.

Passenger Almog Itali said the relief pilots included a British pilot and helped pull the aircraft up, stabilise it and guide it towards Saudi Arabia.

However, accounts differed on the pilots’ nationalities, with some reports identifying them as South African or New Zealand pilots. Their exact role has not been independently established in the accounts available.

How passengers helped regain control

The rescue effort was not the work of one person.

After Machchhar opened the cockpit door, passengers and crew rushed inside and helped overpower the attacker while the aircraft was still recovering from its steep descent.

One passenger described the plunge as feeling like “massive turbulence” that lasted 20 to 30 seconds.

The aircraft eventually landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Aviation experts said the forces involved during the descent were severe. Former United Airlines pilot and aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo said he was surprised the aircraft did not break apart, while another expert said the altitude available to the pilots may have been crucial to the recovery.

Flight 1073 ultimately ended with a safe landing after a series of interventions by the captain, crew and passengers on board.