Inside the Flydubai attack that could upend Israeli elections

The Global Story

The episode details a dramatic incident on Flydubai flight FZ1073 where a co-pilot allegedly stabbed the captain, causing a 17,000-foot desc

Key takeaways

• Captain Smit Machar, an Indian national, is being hailed as a hero for surviving the attack and helping stabilize the plane.
• The attacker is identified as an Omani national co-pilot, raising questions about aviation agreements between the UAE and Israel.

Main topics

• Flydubai cockpit attack
• Israeli election security concerns

Notable quotes

We've just taken control of the terrorists. We're about to land.

Conclusion

The incident serves as a high-stakes test for regional aviation securi

Transcript preview

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Listen now, wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Speaker 6 (1:12) On Wednesday, Fly Dubai flight FZ1073 was unexpectedly grounded en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv after a pilot stabbed another pilot in the cockpit. In the hours that followed, there was huge confusion over what really happened as dramatic videos of the incident emerged and journalists the world over scrambled to find out who was involved. As we record this at 8am in London on Thursday, that's 3am US East Coast time, we're going to get into everything we know so far. Speaker 6 (1:47) From the BBC, I'm Tristan Redmond in London. And today on The Global Story, what happened on the fly Dubai flight and why it's so significant weeks before the Israeli parliamentary election. Speaker 6 (2:07) Well, on the line right now from our bureau in Jerusalem is our Middle East correspondent, Yolande Nell. Great to see you again, Yolande. Great Speaker 4 (2:16) to see you too. Speaker 6 (2:17) A lot's happened in the last 24 hours. Can you take us through step by step what happened yesterday when we first realised there was an issue with this flight? Speaker 4 (2:29) So it was early morning on Wednesday. This FlyDubai flight had... Left Dubai, it was en route to Tel Aviv. There were some 174 people on board, most of them Israelis. And then about two hours into the flight, the plane suddenly dropped 17,000 feet in less than two minutes. That's 5,200 meters. Speaker 8 (2:52) There Speaker 4 (2:53) are videos from then of passengers who were screaming. Speaker 8 (2:58) And Speaker 4 (2:58) flight data shows that it took some time to stabilize the jet, about five minutes as it pitched up and down. It sent out a distress call at about 8.30 local time. And though it just passed into Jordanian airspace, it turned around, made this emergency landing at Tabuk Airport, which is in the north of Saudi Arabia. At this point, there was just a lot of confusion about exactly what had happened on board. And some of the initial media reports were saying that there had been a fight between the pilot and the co-pilot. But it soon became apparent that actually it was much more serious than that, that something apparently unprecedented had actually happened. Speaker 6 (3:40) Yeah. How quickly did it evolve from those initial reports of an apparent brawl to getting a more concrete picture of what had happened? Speaker 4 (3:49) Well, quite quickly, once the plane had landed in Saudi Arabia, a country, of course, which Israel does not have formal diplomatic relations with, but still the passengers on board say they were given a very good reception. They were able to start sending out these videos and contacting their loved ones. Speaker 7 (4:06) We're here, the plane. We've just taken control of the terrorists. We're about to land. Anyone who hears me, we need help. All aboard the flight are healthy and in one piece, aside from the pilot. We need help. Speaker 4 (4:20) And it became clear that the captain, who we now know is the Indian captain, Smit Machar, and Israeli passengers who were on board the plane, just ordinary civilians, appear to have stopped the flight. from crashing. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that they averted a 9-11 style disaster. And the co-pilot, who's said to have been an Omani national, apparently attacked his colleague. We're not exactly sure with what. There's reports saying that he was stabbed. And then... seized controls. One of the passengers said that he actually started damaging those controls. The Indian captain had fought off his attacker. He had some bad wounds to his head, to his hands. Speaker 4 (5:11) Crucially, he had managed to unlock the cockpit door. That meant that then Israeli passengers were able to get inside. They were wrestling with this attacker. There are various reports that have come out from them. There were other pilots on board, extremely fortunately, who were then able to take control of the plane. But even aviation experts are saying it is something quite remarkable that the plane didn't crash after all that happened. Speaker 6 (5:39) When the plane landed in Saudi Arabia, we started seeing witness accounts coming through. What were they saying exactly, Yolande? Speaker 4 (5:48) I mean, there was all sorts coming from the passengers who were on board. There was a plumber who was on board apparently with his family. He was wearing a bloodied shirt. He actually came out afterwards. He met the Israeli prime minister, but we're told that he had called him earlier. He said that he had actually grabbed the controls of the plane and that his reference for that was from watching TV shows and that that was how initially he managed to stabilize the plane, why we think it was maybe four or five Israelis were involved in trying to keep this attacker tied up. of the witnesses said that they used zip ties to restrain him. They had some help from the crew. And one said that then two British pilots who were among the passengers who were on board went into the cockpit and they were the ones that landed the plane. Now, there's an Israeli dentist who gave medical assistance to the injured Indian captain, said he'd lost a lot of blood. He said that the feeling was that they were just seconds away from a critical event. They were... worried because they couldn't find the weapon they said had been used to attack the captain of the plane. And so they actually, you know, thought there might be an accomplice on board and they spread some passengers around the plane quite