FlyDubai Captain Recounts Attack, Saves 182 Passengers

A FlyDubai captain, seriously injured in an attack by his co-pilot Wednesday, described his struggle to regain control of the aircraft and save the 182 people on board. Captain Smit Machchhar spoke live from a hospital in Abu Dhabi, stating his resolve to stand despite his wounds was crucial to preventing a catastrophe.

“I had so many wounds. I had fallen down,” Captain Machchhar told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “I was fighting for my life. At one point I realized that if I didn’t get up then passengers would lose their lives.”

The captain's actions during a steep descent allowed him to open the cockpit door. Passengers then restrained the attacker, an Omani national, as the Boeing 737 diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, for an emergency landing.

The incident led to the suspension of commercial travel between the United Arab Emirates and Israel. Israel began repatriation flights to bring back passengers stranded in the UAE.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the attacker's arrest in Saudi Arabia. The motive remains unclear.

In separate Middle East developments, Sami Abou Shehadeh, chairman of the left-wing Balad party, withdrew his candidacy from Israel's upcoming election. This followed comments he made about Hamas's Oct. 7 attack. Abou Shehadeh’s initial comments did not condemn Hamas and suggested violence was unsurprising. He later clarified that he had not known the scale of the violence and called the attack unacceptable and a crime.