Passenger ties up FlyDubai copilot after 5,000-metre dive

Israeli dentist Shota Musaev said he tied the hands of the FlyDubai copilot who stabbed the captain with headphones, then treated the pilot's bleeding wounds on flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv. The Boeing 737 Max plunged about 5,000 metres in under two minutes on 30 September 2026 with 174 people aboard before an emergency landing at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia.cbsnews.com+1

Musaev, seated in row 13, said he rushed toward the cockpit after Captain Smit Machchhar was attacked. He described finding the pilot on the floor covered in blood and turning immediately to help. The episode lasted around 40 minutes, Musaev said, and he said he was still processing it days later.

What the passenger did

The attack began as the flight approached Israel. Israeli officials said an unidentified copilot allegedly attacked Machchhar with a knife and put the plane into a nose dive in an attempt to crash it. The captain fought off the attacker long enough to unlock the cockpit door, allowing passengers to enter.taipeitimes.com

Musaev said that once the plane was levelled, he and another passenger tied the suspect's hands with airline headphones. The suspect said little beyond stating he was from Oman, then said "Kill me, kill me, please," Musaev said. "Once he had been subdued, caught, he didn't resist," Musaev said.

Passenger Yaniv Hayoun, a plumber, told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a meeting broadcast by CNN that he grabbed the attacker, put him in a chokehold and dragged him out of the cockpit. He then re-entered and yanked back on the yokes, pulling the plane out of its descent of around 5,000 metres in less than two minutes.

How the plane was recovered

Hayoun said he knew which way to move the controls because he had watched Air Crash Investigation, a television programme that re-enacts aviation disasters. The yokes control the flaps on the tail, which set the angle of the plane's nose. A second FlyDubai pilot on board took over the pilot's seat and flew the jet to Saudi Arabia.

Nigel Waterhouse, founder of Vancouver-based Can-Am Aerospace and an aviation engineer, said data show the plane exceeded its structural limits during the plunge. After recovering, the plane's air speed of 550 nautical miles an hour exceeded its maximum cruising speed of 453 knots, and on the dive it exceeded its dive limit of 566 knots, Waterhouse said.

Musaev applied pressure to the captain's wounds to stop bleeding from his head, neck and hands. "He said to me, 'Help me, please. Help me, please. I don't want to die here,'" Musaev said. Machchhar was treated at a hospital in Saudi Arabia and later transferred to a hospital in the United Arab Emirates, the Indian consulate in Dubai said.

Where the suspect is now

Saudi authorities said two crew members were hospitalised with unspecified injuries, and no passengers were seriously hurt. A photo on social media showed the plane's rudder was missing upon landing. FlyDubai said all passengers and crew are safe and that the underlying reasons and motives remain subject to a formal investigation.

The copilot's motive remains unknown. Netanyahu speculated the incident looked "like a suicide attempt" and said the copilot "underwent Islamist radical indoctrination." Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz called it "an attempted jihadist terror attack." President Trump suggested a possible Iranian link, while Netanyahu said it was "too early to say."

Saudi Arabia said on Thursday the copilot had been transferred to the UAE for questioning. Israeli President Isaac Herzog nominated Hayun for the Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism, along with Tzvika Manes, Manes' wife Tali, Musaev and Asaf Rajuan. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Captain Machchhar's courage on X.