Flydubai pilot prevented disaster after co-pilot attack, enabling emergency landing and saving passengers on flight from UAE to Israel. Read more at straitstimes.com.

“It is important that we allow this process to establish the facts,” said flydubai CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith.

“It is important that we allow this process to establish the facts,” said flydubai CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith.

Flydubai Captain Smit Machchhar tells Narendra Modi how he fought back after a cockpit attack, as two reserve pilots landed the plunging flight at Tabuk safely.

That is the design gap this incident exposes. The door can't tell a captain letting in help from a pilot letting in an attacker. If one pilot turns hostile, the other pilot is the only person on the flight deck who can open it. If he is hurt, the door stays shut until help arrives, whether or not that help is needed.

A Flydubai co-pilot allegedly stabbed the captain and tried to bring down a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight before passengers intervened. The emergency landing in Saudi Arabia has triggered parallel investigations by the UAE and Israeli agencies.

Capt Smit Machchhar tells Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi he opened the cockpit door to let others in during the attack.

Netanyahu warns those behind the Flydubai Flight FZ1073 attack will "pay a very heavy price" as investigators probe whether the co-pilot acted alone or was directed by others.

He also said that he recites the Hanuman Chalisa in times of difficulty and that Lord Hanuman gave him courage. He told Modi he was his biggest idol, that he had never imagined getting the chance to speak to him, and that he expected to make a full recovery.

New Delhi : Sonal Machchhar, the wife of Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar, recalled the horrifying moment of learning about the mid-air attack on her