Flydubai Flight FZ1073 dropped 17,000 feet in under two minutes because of an attack in which the co-pilot stabbed the pilot with an emergency axe. The injured pilot, although bleeding, managed to unlock the cockpit, giving access to the crew and passengers to help (Al Jazeera, 2026a).
They managed to subdue the co-pilot, who was disarming the controls to crash the plane, and performed emergency first aid on the injured pilot while getting the aircraft back into the air.
Reports have stated that three passengers, Rajuan, Yaniv, and Manes, and a Dentist, Musayev, assisted in saving the pilot and the aircraft (Al Jazeera, 2026a).
When did this flight attack happen?
The madness of the Flydubai Flight attack is something that rarely happens, and reports say so. The Flight took off on Wednesday, 30th September, 2026, from Dubai to Tel Aviv, and about two hours later, it began to descend, from an initial 34,000 feet to about 17,000 feet (Al Jazeera, 2026a; 2026b).
In an Al Jazeera report, one passenger testified to feeling the aircraft descending and the multimedia system, AC, and electricity being disabled as well (Al Jazeera, 2026a). While that was happening, the cockpit held the actual event; the co-pilot, who has been identified as Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani national, stabbed his pilot, Smit Machchhar, with the emergency axe in the cockpit and proceeded to destroy the controls on the aircraft (Al Jazeera, 2026b; 2026c).
Machchhar, although bleeding and in pain, managed to open the cockpit for the crew members and passengers to intervene. In a video call with India’s Prime Minister Modi, he mentioned that he was lying on the floor, but told himself to go for one last push to open the door from the inside (Al Jazeera, 2026a; 2026c).
He might have been fighting for his life, but he was not going to allow others to die, he added. He not only performed such bravery and courage, but also saved the lives of 174 passengers and crew members (Euronews, 2026).
Passengers Manes, Yaniv, and Rajuan rushed into the cockpit to help with the situation. Al Jazeera reported that they forced their way into the cockpit and saw al-Hammami destroying the controls. They and other passengers, including the dentist tending to the injured pilot, helped to restrain him with headphone cords (Al Jazeera, 2026a).
The report also stated that Yaniv, after pulling the co-pilot out of the cockpit, took the reins of the controls of the aircraft and was joined by off-duty pilots who had been travelling further back in the plane. In the process of easing the aircraft back to its normal flying momentum, it began to transmit the code 7700, which is the international code for general emergency. It then changed to 7500 for unlawful interference, as at this point, it was flying near the Saudi Arabia - Jordan border (Al Jazeera, 2026a)
The aircraft successfully landed in Tabuk, northwest of Saudi Arabia, and the pilots were rushed to hospital and then transferred to Abu Dhabi. It was after the transfer, which cleared him medically, that Machchhar was able to have a video call with his Prime Minister (Al Jazeera, 2026c).
Who was this co-pilot, and why was he out for Machchhar?
There have been no confirmations of the intent of the flight hijacked by Hamam al-Hammami, but all that has been revealed about him is that he is an Omani national with alleged extremist views.
He has been previously barred by Oman from flying because of said extremist views, Al Jazeera reported, and has served in Oman Air for seven years before joining Royal Air Maroc in June 2025 and left in January 2026. These sources were reported by CNN
CBS reported that Israeli investigators believe he was acting as a lone wolf. When he resigned from his job at Oman Air, he moved to Dubai and got a job with Flydubai, which did not verify him with the Omani government before hiring (CBS News, 2026).
How was he cleared to fly then?
The airline, Flydubai, is under the United Arab Emirates, and its certifications fall under the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority. This means that all safety checks for flying fall within its jurisdiction (Al Jazeera, 2026b).
The checks include a valid professional pilot license, appropriate aircraft type rating, current Class 1 medical certificate, and English language proficiency, as well as the required flight experience (Al Jazeera, 2026b).
Hamam al-Hammami must have met these requirements to enable him to co-pilot the aircraft, but it was not enough to reveal his true intentions or anyone's for the flight. Al- Jazeera reported in an interview with Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at StrategicAero Research, where he told them that although pilot vetting is very thorough, the checks will never uncover whether a person has had issues or not (Al Jazeera, 2026b).
The incident has alerted the Israeli government to ramp up its security checks on incoming and outgoing pilots, down to their backgrounds (Al Jazeera, 2026b).
The investigations into the intent of the incident are ongoing, and Israeli officials as well as the US are assisting to get to the root of the issue (CBS News, 2026).
Flydubai’s Flight FZ1073 pilot fought a good fight that day, and because of his bravery, 174 passengers, as well as on-board crew members and his attacker, were all saved.
References:
- Al Jazeera. (2026, October 2). 12 minutes of madness: How Flydubai pilot, passengers saved plane midfall. https://www.aljazeera.com
- Al Jazeera. (2026, October 3). Who is the mystery co-pilot behind the Flydubai attack? https://www.aljazeera.com
- Al Jazeera. (2026, October 1). How was the Flydubai co-pilot who attacked his captain cleared to fly? https://www.aljazeera.com
- Euronews. (2026, September 30). Israel says pilot tried to crash FlyDubai plane during cockpit fight. https://www.euronews.com
- CBS News. (2026). What we're learning about the FlyDubai co-pilot who allegedly stabbed the captain and tried to crash the plane. https://www.cbsnews.com