A Flydubai co-pilot stabbed his captain and tried to crash the plane, exposing a pilot-vetting gap Israel now wants closed

A Flydubai co-pilot stabbed the captain and attempted to crash the plane on Wednesday, turning flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv into a desperate struggle for survival with more than 170 people on board. Passengers and crew overpowered the attacker, and the plane landed safely in Saudi Arabia.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said investigations suggest Islamist radical indoctrination, telling Fox News it was looking very likely the attacker was going to down the plane. The co-pilot was an Omani national. The captain was Indian national Capt Smit Machchhar.

Two hours after takeoff

The flight took off from Dubai International Airport at 03:05 GMT en route to Ben Gurion Airport. Two hours after takeoff, the plane plunged more than 17,000ft (5,200m). Minutes later the plane signalled an emergency code. At about 05:40 the plane briefly entered Jordanian airspace, then looped back into Saudi Arabia, where it landed at Tabuk Airport.

The captain who fought back

Despite being stabbed, Captain Machchhar managed to resist the attacker and ensure help reached him from the cabin by making sure the doors could be breached. Netanyahu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the stabbed pilot a hero. India’s ambassador to the UAE, Deepak Mittal, visited Captain Machchhar in hospital on Thursday. He was in good health and recovering well.

A loophole in the cockpit

Netanyahu said pilots from countries without diplomatic relations with Israel were usually not allowed to fly there. Oman has not formally established official ties with Israel, unlike the UAE. Netanyahu said there was a loophole and it was being addressed with the co-operation of the Emirati government. He said the attacker, once subdued, was calling out “kill me, kill me,” indicating he was suicidal. Israel is introducing measures for greater background screening of pilots.

Since 9/11, commercial aircraft have had locked cockpit doors where the pilot effectively holds the key. “We have as an industry lost more lives on commercial aircraft as a result of aircraft-assisted suicide since 9/11 than we have due to terrorism,” says Philip Baum, an international aviation security expert. He says in most suicide cases, the cockpit fortress could not be broken into by good guys outside the flight deck to neutralise rogue pilots inside. Baum argues there needs to be some kind of override system for cockpit doors, whether timed or from the ground. The crash of Germanwings flight 4U9525 in 2015 killed 150 people. A Mozambique Airlines crash in 2013 killed 33.

Grounded and redirected

Flydubai has suspended flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv. Israel’s Transportation Ministry said the flight suspension aligns with Netanyahu’s directive. Israeli airlines El Al, Israir, and Arkia said plans were in place to operate rescue flights from Dubai starting Friday. Israel’s Transportation Ministry sent an urgent request to Etihad Airlines to increase flights between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv. The co-pilot is being questioned in Saudi Arabia and is expected to be transferred to the UAE. UAE officials say they have jurisdiction over the incident because the aircraft is registered there and flies under its flag, though Saudi Arabia’s position on jurisdiction has not been stated. The UAE state news agency reports investigations have begun there to determine whether the incident was linked to any terrorist activity. British ministers have said they will be looking at the safety of flights to Israel. The UK pilots’ union Balpa said it would caution against premature speculation.