Trump warns Iran after FlyDubai cockpit stabbing

The Indian captain of FlyDubai Flight FZ1073 opened the cockpit door bloodied. His Omani co-pilot had allegedly stabbed him mid-flight on the Dubai-to-Tel Aviv run, throwing the jet into a descent so sharp the rudder was reportedly torn away. Passengers and crew grappled the attacker and bound his hands. Off-duty and reserve pilots then landed the aircraft in Saudi Arabia.

The cockpit had already sent the distress codes 7700 and 7500.

The attack left no room for abstraction about public safety or national sovereignty. Four Americans were aboard a commercial flight that nearly went down from inside its own cockpit.

Flight FZ1073 carried 174 people, mostly Israelis, along with Indians, Emiratis, and those four Americans. One account put the total at 182. Captain Smit Machchhar, who unlocked the door after the stabbing, was later reported in stable condition and recovering in Abu Dhabi. Video shot by Dr. Shota Musayev, a dentist on board who treated the captain, shows the co-pilot kneeling with his hands tied behind his back.

Asaf Rajuan, among the passengers who intervened, said in a statement shared by Israel’s presidency: “We felt helpless, suspended in mid-air, and I didn’t know who to turn to. But it was all instinct to survive.”

FlyDubai suspended flights to and from Israel after the incident. A regional official said the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Israel, and the United States are all involved in the investigation. Israel has requested that the co-pilot be transferred to Israel for interrogation. Whether that request will be granted remains unclear. Saudi Arabia does not maintain formal diplomatic ties with Israel, though the countries have long cooperated on security through other channels. The UAE has asserted jurisdiction because the aircraft is registered there and Emirati law applies to crimes committed on board.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar identified the co-pilot as an Omani national. His name has not been released. Oman’s government has not commented. A regional official said the suspect was under arrest and that investigators were examining every possibility, from terrorism to mental disorders. Nothing had been ruled out. The investigation has not established a motive or any Iranian connection.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CBS News the episode did not look like a classic seizure of the aircraft. “I don’t think it was a hijacking. I think it looks like a suicide attempt,” he said. On Fox News he stated that Israel knew the man had undergone Islamist radical indoctrination. “We know that he underwent Islamist radical indoctrination,” Netanyahu said. “That appears to be something we’re gathering from his personal information.”

Netanyahu said the co-pilot appeared to have used a loophole in Israeli aviation rules that normally bar pilots from countries without diplomatic relations with Israel. Oman falls in that category. Asked whether Iran stood behind the attack, Netanyahu said it was too early to say. When the Associated Press asked how the prime minister knew about the indoctrination, his office declined to comment.