DUBAI, Sept 30: The co-pilot of a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv allegedly stabbed the captain on Wednesday morning, triggering a battle in the cockpit during which the Boeing 737 MAX 8 plunged 14,300 feet in roughly 30 seconds over northern Saudi Arabia.

The jet broadcast a hijack alert and diverted to Tabuk, where it landed safely, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu credited its wounded Indian captain with fighting back and opening the cockpit door so that passengers and crew could overpower the attacker.

The captain, Smit Machchhar, is from Ghatkopar East in Mumbai and was based in Dubai for work. Both pilots were hospitalised, Tabuk Airport said. Machchhar underwent surgery and is stable, while the other pilot, whose name was not known at the time of going to press, was arrested by Saudi authorities.

In a post on X, Netanyahu saluted Machchhar’s “extraordinary bravery”. “Despite being stabbed and seriously injured, he fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door, and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker — preventing a catastrophic mid-air disaster,” he wrote. “He saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals.”

In an earlier video message, Netanyahu said the pilot who attacked his colleague wanted to crash the airliner, and that another crew that happened to be on board stabilised the aircraft after the attacker was subdued.

Israeli officials said the attacker was an Omani national.

Machchhar grew up in Ghatkopar and studied in Mumbai, a family friend said. He joined flydubai’s 737 fleet as a direct-entry captain in June 2022 after 11 years with SpiceJet in Mumbai, where he rose to senior commander and, from November 2020, trained and checked other pilots, according to his LinkedIn profile. The profile lists 9,750 flying hours and a business administration degree from the Welingkar Institute of Management. His brother is a pilot with Akasa Air, the people said.

A passenger on the flight - FZ1073 - Miriam Abukasis, heard screaming and saw a man with a knife force one of the pilots to the floor, with blood everywhere, her mother Yasmin said in Tel Aviv. In a video purportedly recorded by another passenger and carried widely by Israeli media, the passenger said one pilot was seriously hurt and the other slightly. The plane carried about 150 Israelis, Israeli media reported, and flydubai said all passengers were safe.

Flight data from Flightradar24 and ADS-B Exchange show the plane took off from Dubai at 7.05am local time and cruised west over Saudi Arabia at 34,000 feet. At 8.21am Saudi time (10.51am IST), a little over two hours into the flight and about 235km north-east of Tabuk, it began to descend. Between two readings 37 seconds apart it fell from 33,225 feet to 18,925 feet, about 23,000 feet a minute. At a typical 2,000 feet a minute, an airliner would take seven minutes to lose that height.

Photographs of the aircraft at Tabuk appear to show the rudder torn from its tail. That kind of damage can occur when control surfaces are moved too hard at high speed, and it would fit a dive as violent as the one the flight data record.

The plane bottomed out at 16,600 feet as its ground speed peaked at 598 knots (1,107km/h), then climbed more than 5,000 feet, fell again to 13,675 feet by 8.27am and levelled off at about 15,000 feet. Receivers lost its position for nine minutes. When the track resumed at 8.31am, the transponder showed 7700, the general emergency code, and at 8.35am it switched to 7500, the hijack code. It was not clear who set the codes.

The plane flew on northwest into Jordan, turned back and was over Saudi territory by 8.45am.

‘Stabbed Indian pilot opened cockpit door, we pinned attacker down’, passenger tells Netanyahu what happened on flydubai flight

TEL AVIV, Sept 30: An Israeli passenger aboard a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv claimed to have strangled the co-pilot and pulled him out of the cockpit after the ‘terrorist’ allegedly stabbed the captain and sent the plane into a sudden plunge on Wednesday.

“We pulled him out; it was a matter of seconds. I called out to the Israeli guys with us on the plane - I called them, and two other guys came over to me... we pinned [the attacker] down to keep him secure.”

Earlier, Netanyahu also credited the Indian pilot for fighting the copilot and opening the cockpit door to let the passengers and crew to overpower the attacker.

Flydubai flight FZ1073, travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, suddenly lost thousands of feet while flying over the region. The Boeing 737 eventually diverted to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia, where it made a safe emergency landing.

Hayun said he realised something was wrong when the aircraft suddenly dropped. “Someone screamed... the light went out,” he said in a video posted by Netanyahu on social media.

Passengers tried to open the cockpit door but found it difficult because Machchhar, who had been injured, was close to it. Hayun said Machchhar managed to open the door before collapsing.

When Hayun and another passenger entered the cockpit, he said he saw one pilot down and the alleged attacker between the two seats, apparently attempting to interfere with the aircraft's controls.

“He was trying to destroy the instruments in order to...disable the plane,” Hayun said. After pulling the alleged attacker out of the cockpit, Hayun said he returned to the controls.

“I started pulling the controls,” he told Netanyahu. When Netanyahu asked whether he knew what he was doing, Hayun replied, “I watch Air Crash Investigation, Mr Prime Minister.”

Hayun said the aircraft then began to level out. Two other flydubai pilots who had been travelling in the passenger cabin subsequently moved to the cockpit, and one of them took control of the aircraft.

The aircraft had been cruising at about 34,000 feet when it began a rapid descent. Flight-tracking data showed the aircraft falling to around 17,000 feet. One analysis of publicly available flight data found that the plane dropped from 33,225 feet to 18,925 feet between two readings 37 seconds apart.

Hayun was not the only passenger who intervened. Another passenger, Zvika Meness, told Israeli public broadcaster Kan that he helped overpower the alleged attacker.

Meness said he and two others “tied him up with his own zip ties and with the multimedia headphones”. “Another pilot who was sitting in the passenger cabin went in to replace the additional pilot, and they essentially landed the plane,” he added.

Israeli defence minister Israel Katz described the incident as an “attempted jihadist terror attack”.

Israel's national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also described the incident as terrorism and said the alleged attacker wanted to crash the plane and kill all 180 on board.

“The grave incident on the flydubai plane was a jihadist terrorist attack attempt, which was thwarted only thanks to the bravery of several Israeli passengers who broke into the cockpit, overpowered the terrorist and, with their own hands, restored control of the plane to another flight crew who was present there,” Katz said, as per the Times of Israel.

“According to the initial information in our possession, the terrorist had one intention: to crash the plane with all its passengers,” he added.

Flydubai will temporarily suspend flights to and from Israel while the investigation into the mid-air incident continues, an airline spokesperson said.

India-Russia 'Expand The Dialogue' On 105-Plane Deal Ahead Of BRICS

NEW DELHI, Sept 10: Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu on Thursday said India and Russia have expanded discussions on manufacturing airplanes in the country, including turboprop IL-114 and Sukhoi Superjet 100 planes.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the BRICS Summit, Naidu said discussions were held with the Russian delegation regarding the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Russia for aircraft manufacturing in India.

He said the aircraft are compatible with India's regional connectivity requirements, especially with several airports being developed across the country.

"Regarding the Russian delegation, I would like to update you on the MoU that HAL had with Russia in terms of manufacturing a plane in the country. There are two kinds of planes. One is the turboprop IL-114, and also the Sukhoi Superjet 100, which is a jet-engine plane. So these two are quite compatible with our regional connectivity scheme," Naidu said.

"With a lot of airports coming up, it is very important for us to connect them. And these planes are very efficient for us to connect them. So we have expanded the dialogue on that. And we want to start the process as soon as possible of getting their planes manufactured in the country. So that has been the crux of the discussion for us," Naidu added.

The Minister further said that India-Russia ties continue to grow, with aviation emerging as a key pillar of the strategic partnership.

Discussions and proposed deals cover potential deliveries and arrangements for 105 regional turboprop aircraft to Indian operators, including Pinnacle Air, Air Kerala, and Sleek Aviation.

Russia displayed its regional SJ-100, MC-21, and Il-114-300 aircraft at the Innoprom event in Delhi to target India's expanding regional connectivity needs.

The growing aviation engagement comes as Russia seeks to deepen industrial cooperation with India beyond traditional defence platforms such as the MiG and Sukhoi fighter jets.

The proposed aircraft deals indicate a possible expansion of India-Russia aerospace ties into civil aviation, regional connectivity and aircraft manufacturing.

300 flights cancelled as UK airports hit by tech snag

LONDON, Sept 8: Nearly 300 flights were cancelled on Tuesday after air traffic control provider NATS experienced a technical issue, with Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted among the hubs affected by cancellations and delays, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24.

“We have identified that the issue was in our flight processing system. Our engineers are on site and working urgently to resume normal operations as quickly as possible. We recognise the ongoing disruption to travel, for which we sincerely apologise,” NATS said in a statement.

“Flights are still departing and airspace is open, but recovery will take some time,” it added.

Flightradar24, a website that tracks flights, said on social media that the problem had led to strict controls on both arriving and departing flights at airports across the London flight information region.

Edinburgh Airport said in a post on X that its operations could also be affected by the problem. Dublin Airport in Ireland said flights arriving at and departing from the airport were experiencing disruptions as well.

London Luton and Birmingham airports were among those reporting delays or cancellations, along with Aberdeen and Glasgow. Dublin Airport also said some incoming and outgoing flights would face delays.

British Airways said the technical problem was disrupting its flights. "This is entirely out of our control and we're in touch with our customers whilst our teams work to get them on their way as quickly as possible," the airline said in a statement.

There appeared to be no reported impact on incoming flights. The cause of the technical issue was not immediately known.

Indonesia volcano eruption: 300 flights hit, schools shut as ash soars 50,000 feet

JAKARTA, Sept 6: An eruption of Indonesia’s Mount Anak Krakatau sent volcanic ash soaring up to 50,000 feet over parts of Java and Sumatra on Sunday, disrupting air travel and affecting hundreds of flights.

The eruption also led to some school activities and fishing trips being cancelled as ash spread across nearby areas.

Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta suspended flight operations until 1.30 pm local time because of volcanic ash, Reuters reported. Airport operator Angkasa Pura said the suspension affected 301 flights, including 58 international services, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded at Indonesia’s main airport.

The airport halt followed runway checks conducted between midnight and 1 am that confirmed dangerous volcanic ash accumulation. Air navigation authorities later extended the operational suspension to ensure runway safety.

London-bound Virgin Atlantic flight makes emergency landing at Bengaluru airport after technical snag

BENGALURU, Sept 6: A London-bound Virgin Atlantic flight made an “emergency landing” at Bengaluru airport on Sunday due to a technical snag.

The flight, carrying 270 passengers, was forced to make an "emergency landing" at the Kempegowda International Airport due to a technical glitch shortly after take-off, said sources at Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL).

As per reports, the flight took off from KIAB at around 8.20 am but reportedly developed a technical issue soon after departure, prompting the crew to circle the aircraft near Tumakuru for more than half an hour before returning to Bengaluru.

"All passengers on board are safe," sources at BIAL said, adding that the aircraft was brought back as a safety precaution and made an emergency landing.

A statement from Virgin Atlantic is awaited regarding the incident. Airport authorities are trying to ascertain the exact nature of the technical problem.

Air India terminates Phuket-Delhi pilot

MUMBAI, Sept 4: Air India said in a statement on Friday that it has terminated the pilot-in-command (PIC) of its August 4 Phuket-Delhi flight after the aircraft experienced a sudden loss of altitude in cruise, injuring 20 passengers and 4 crew members.

The pilot tested “non-negative” for a psychoactive substance in a confirmatory test, according to a preliminary report released by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) on Friday.

“Safety remains Air India's highest priority. The Pilot-in-Command of the Phuket-Delhi flight tested positive for a psychoactive substance. In line with Air India's zero-tolerance approach to violation of safety, fitness or regulatory requirements, the pilot's employment has been terminated with immediate effect,” an Air India spokesperson said in a statement.

The report said the PIC was the pilot monitoring, meaning the crew member on a two-pilot aircraft who was not handling the primary controls at the time. The copilot tested negative in both tests.

The report did not find any connection between the detection of the psychoactive substance and the altitude upset. “Detailed investigation regarding technical and other aspects is underway.”

The AAIB advised the aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), to take appropriate action as deemed fit to prevent the misuse of psychoactive substances.

It described the use of such substances as a serious concern and said a detailed investigation into the technical and other aspects was still underway.

The flight departed Phuket in Thailand at 7.11am IST and initially reported no issues. At 9:10am, it entered the Kolkata Flight Information Region.

At 09:32 am, the aircraft's flight-control system detected a loss of the green hydraulic system. Four seconds later, it detected the loss of the blue and yellow hydraulic systems.

Hydraulic systems operate several aircraft components, including wheel brakes, nose-wheel steering, landing gear retraction, flight control surfaces, windshield wipers, and propeller pitch control.

At 9:32 am, the autopilot disengaged, and a continuous repetitive chime began. Three seconds later, the stall warning was activated for two seconds.

“...the aircraft encountered altitude upset. Initially, it gained 372 ft and fell by 292 ft from its assigned FL360 during the event,” the AAIB report said.

It added that the blue hydraulic system was restored around 09:32am. The yellow and green hydraulic systems were restored a few seconds later, restoring control of the surfaces and allowing the aircraft to return to normal operating conditions.