FlyDubai Captain Saves Passengers After Co-Pilot Stabs Him Mid-Flight

Captain Smit Machchhar fought off an attack by his co-pilot on a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight, plunging nearly 14,000 feet before opening the cockpit door to allow passengers and crew to intervene. The struggle began when the injured pilot was stabbed while lying on the floor as the aircraft descended rapidly toward Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Machchhar told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he acted not only for his own survival but also because he could not let others die during the incident. Passengers rushed into the cockpit to restrain the attacker and assist in landing the plane safely at an emergency airfield before passengers were diverted to Tel Aviv on a replacement flight.