FlyDubai: The airline that made an emergency landing after a captain was stabbed

A copilot on a flight to Israel stabbed a captain on Wednesday before passengers pushed their way into the cockpit and wrestled with the attacker. The FlyDubai plane fell rapidly, with a passenger saying he grabbed the controls and pulled upward, similar to how he had seen on television. Other crew members soon took over, and the jetliner made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. It was not clear what motivated the attack. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Saudi Arabia had arrested the copilot. The passengers from the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv were greeted with cheers in Israel as they completed the journey on another flight Wednesday evening.Here we take a look at the airline in which the altercation took place.Airline is owned by the Emirati governmentSister airline to Emirates, FlyDubai is a government-owned carrier operated by the United Arab Emirates that runs a fleet of 98 Boeing 737 aircraft, according to its website. It flies to the Mideast, Africa, Europe and Asia, including the Indian subcontinent. The airline reported carrying 15.7 million passengers in 2025 (Getty)In November 2020, FlyDubai began offering commercial flights between Tel Aviv and Dubai, a rare route at a time when other airlines in the region stopped flying to Israel, a UAE ally. The airline reported carrying 15.7 million passengers in 2025 and reached a total revenue of AED 13.6 billion ($3.7 billion).Stabbed captain helped passengers overpower attackerDuring the chaos of the attack, the flight descended from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet (around 10,000 meters to 5,100 meters) in about a minute, before making an erratic circle close to the Jordanian border and landing in Tabuk about an hour later, according to Flightradar24. Most of the plane’s rudder was ripped off the tail during the sudden drop.Netanyahu identified the wounded captain as Smit Machchhar of India, and the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia said Machchhar was in stable condition.“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 midair disaster,” Netanyahu said on X. “He saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals.”