Indian embassy in UAE says wounded 'hero' Flydubai captain in good health after averting crash

LAST UPDATE | 12 hrs ago

ISRAELI AIRLINE EL AL has announced special flights to bring Israelis home from Dubai after Flydubai suspended services to and from Israel following an apparent attempt to crash one of its planes.

The dramatic incident on Wednesday saw passengers and crew overpower a co-pilot who allegedly attacked the captain of the Dubai-Tel Aviv flight before the aircraft made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

Passengers described rushing towards the cockpit after the plane suddenly plummeted, losing around 17,000ft of altitude in the space of a minute, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24.

Flydubai said all 174 passengers were safe. Media reports said 166 of those on board were Israeli.

The United Arab Emirates’ chief prosecutor said today that an investigation had been launched into the incident, including whether it was linked to “terrorist activity or intent”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed today that the co-pilot had undergone “Islamist radical indoctrination”, without providing further details.

He said the co-pilot, reportedly an Omani national, was being interrogated.

Netanyahu said the man had called on members of the crew to “kill me, kill me” during the incident.

Israeli officials have described what happened as an attempted terrorist attack, although Flydubai has said the reasons for the altercation remain unknown.

Captain recovering

The captain of the aircraft, Indian national Smit Machchhar, was seriously injured during the incident.

Netanyahu said Machchhar was stabbed in the head and suffered a serious injury to his arm.

Advertisement

India’s ambassador to the UAE, Deepak Mittal, met Machchhar and his family in hospital today, with the Indian embassy saying the pilot was “in good health and recovering well”.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the captain’s actions, saying his “valour helped save hundreds of lives” and describing him as a “hero”.

Netanyahu has also credited the captain and passengers with averting a major disaster.

“I salute these heroes,” Netanyahu said. “They prevented a major disaster.”

Passenger Miryam Shira Ohayon described the aircraft as being “pretty much out of control” as the incident unfolded over Jordan.

“It was really on the way to crashing, and it was simply the resourcefulness of many people who took control of the co-pilot and neutralised him,” she said.

Flydubai said an on-duty crew travelling as passengers on the flight diverted the aircraft and landed it safely in the Saudi city of Tabuk.

The airline subsequently suspended its flights to and from Israel while the incident is investigated.

El Al said today it would operate special flights from Dubai to Tel Aviv from Friday to bring Israelis home.

Two flights are due to leave Dubai on Friday, at 11am and 1pm, with the airline saying further services could be added once permission is granted.

Tickets for the special flights will cost $249 (€220), with passengers limited to hand luggage.

Flydubai’s passengers were meanwhile flown from Saudi Arabia to Tel Aviv on another aircraft following Wednesday’s emergency landing.