‘I was sure I was going to die’: Inside the Flydubai flight where passengers fought off a terrifying attack

A horrific mid-air catastrophe on a plane heading to Tel Aviv was averted in a stunning turn of events on Wednesday when passengers and crew bravely rushed into the cockpit and regained control of the aircraft.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a pilot stabbed his colleague on a Flydubai plane and tried to “sabotage the aircraft’s system.” It plunged the aircraft thousands of feet in two minutes, causing panic and forcing the flight to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

The pilot who allegedly tried to crash the plane has yet to be named.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond spoke with passengers after landing in Israel following an incident aboard a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. A pilot on the flight stabbed the other pilot in the cockpit during an apparent attempt to crash the plane, according to Israel's Prime Minister.

The other pilot, identified as Smit Machchhar from India, fought back and “managed to prevent a 9/11 disaster,” Netanyahu told CNN’s Jim Sciutto. “What distinguishes this incident from the other tragic attacks was at this time, the good guys won,” Netanyahu said.

A spokesperson for the airline said that on-duty Flydubai crew members “successfully secured” the aircraft and landed it safely at Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk Airport, where passengers boarded onto a different flight to return to Israel.

The suspected attacker has since been detained and is being questioned by Saudi authorities, Netanyahu added, but questions remain around how the incident unfolded and what motivated the pilot to instigate the bloody altercation.

Flydubai flight FZ1073 departed Dubai at 6:05 a.m. local time (10:05 p.m. ET) and began flying west to its destination near Tel Aviv. About two hours after taking off, the aircraft began quickly losing altitude and turned sharply to the north, flight tracking data showed. It descended 17,400 feet in just under two minutes.

The flight issued a distress call at 8:31 a.m., minutes before it squawked code 7500 — the International Civil Aviation Organization code to signal an aircraft hijacking.

Passengers described chaotic scenes on board the plane as the plane nosedived.

“We just felt the plane drop completely and start spinning a little, and everyone was screaming, there were children crying,” passenger Mika Bauman told CNN. “I was just sure I was going to die,” she said.

Other passengers took it upon themselves to charge into the cockpit and fight the attacker.

Yaniv Hayoun, who recounted to Netanyahu how he put the alleged attacker in a chokehold and dragged him out of the cockpit with other passengers. Hayoun said he then grabbed the plane’s controls to help bring it back under control.

Dr. Shota Musaev, a dentist on board, told CNN he tied the attacker up using headphone cords and plastic zipties. He then started tending to the wounded pilot.

Even after the attacker was restrained, passengers remained terrified.

“There was nothing but desert beneath us; we feared being taken to an enemy country or landing in the middle of the desert,” Assaf Rajuan told CNN. “We didn’t know who to trust.”

In another extraordinary turn of events, there were people on board the flight who knew how to fly a plane and were able to bring the aircraft safely down.

Netanyahu and Flydubai confirmed that reserve pilots who were in the passenger area managed to regain control of the aircraft. The flight was diverted to Saudi Arabia ’s Tabuk Airport, where it touched down at 9:54 a.m.

David Soucie, a CNN aviation safety analyst, said it was fairly uncommon for additional on-duty pilots to be on flights “unless they are being repositioned for other flights.”

Video Screen Grab/Reuters

Video shared on social media and verified by CNN showed a gruesome scene onboard following the attack, where a seriously wounded pilot is seen lying on the floor of the aircraft, his pained face partially covered with a mask.

The man is seen clutching his torso with his bloodied hands. He seems in pain, but conscious. Several passengers are seen helping him and monitoring his vital signs.

Just next to him, guarded by several men, is another pilot — the man the flight’s passengers allege was the attacker. He too is wounded, lying on his side, his white shirt soaked with blood around his stomach.

Flydubai passenger: ‘It was like a death in front of our eyes moment.’

The pilot who was stabbed on the Flydubai flight suffered “massive blood loss” and was “severely wounded,” Musaev, told CNN. “He was covered in cuts — his head, his hands — they were practically sliced open, almost severed in two.”

Netanyahu identified the stabbed pilot as Smit Machchhar, praising the captain as a “true hero” who demonstrated “extraordinary bravery” and saved the lives of 174 people.

“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 mid-air disaster,” he wrote on X.

Both the captain and co-pilot of the plane were taken to the hospital, Saudi Arabia’s leading aviation operator said.

What remains unclear is the identity of the pilot who allegedly attacked Machchhar. Nor do we know his motive or the weapon he used in the violent altercation.

One Israeli official said that the alleged attacker was an Omani national. Oman and Israel do not have formal diplomatic relations, and it is not yet clear how the Omani pilot would have obtained clearance to fly to Israel.

The passengers, who Netanyahu said were “almost all” Israeli, have since traveled to Israel on a substitute Flydubai plane that was sent to Saudi Arabia, their family members told CNN.

Prior to their arrival, at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport, the families of passengers anxiously waited for their loved ones, with some carrying balloons reading “welcome” and “it’s so good to have you back home.”

After landing in Israel, Flydubai passengers were directed to a “dedicated reception area” where they met with medical teams and underwent examinations, an Israel Airports Authority spokesperson said.

A 50-year-old male passenger was taken to a hospital with an upper-body injury and is in “light condition,” according to the spokesperson.

Several Israeli officials commended the bravery of those on board the plane. Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the incident ended in a “great miracle,” adding that Israel and the UAE will “investigate the incident in depth together.”

Four American citizens who also hold Israeli nationality were among the passengers on board, according to two US officials.

Authorities continue to unpack the details around the harrowing incident, many of which remain murky.

A host of Israeli agencies, including Shin Bet, Mossad, the military and the country’s transportation ministry, are involved in investigating the Flydubai incident that took place this morning, an Israeli official told CNN.

One of the main questions being looked into is why the flight crew included a pilot from a country with which Israel does not have diplomatic relations, the official said.

There will also be an investigation in Saudi Arabia, who now have custody of the alleged attacker. Saudi Arabia is another Gulf nation that does not have formal diplomatic ties with Israel.

Israel enforces some of the strictest aviation security protocols in the world, after facing a history of hijackings and terminal attacks. Departing passengers are required to undergo pre-screening and questioning, in addition to multiple passport checks, advanced baggage scanning, and, sometimes, full-body screening.

Foreign airlines must obtain approval from Israel’s Aviation Security Operation Center before they can operate to and from the country’s airports.

Investigators will likely explore the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder first, Marco Chan, a senior lecturer in aviation operations at London’s Kingston University, told CNN.

They will also interview the crew, the off-duty pilots and passengers, and determine how the cockpit door was opened, how the weapon came to be on board, and the pilot’s medical and training history, he said.

Omer Messinger/Pool/Reuters

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar spoke to his UAE counterpart, Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, during which they agreed to cooperate against “extremist elements” threatening security, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said.

In the meantime, Flydubai temporarily suspended flights to and from Israel while an investigation continues, a spokesperson for the airline said later on Wednesday.

US President Donald Trump said he spoke to Netanyahu on Wednesday, calling the passengers’ efforts to subdue the attacker “the most amazing stuff.”

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said he is “deeply concerned” over the events, but “very relieved that the plane landed safely thanks to the actions of those on board.”

CNN’s Catherine Nichols, Ivana Kottasová, Zeena Saifi, Dana Karni, Michael Rios, Hira Humayun, Jeremy Diamond, Adam Cancryn, Eyad Kourdi, Sophie Tanno, and Billy Stockwell contributed to this report.

周三，一架飞往特拉维夫的飞机险些发生可怕的空中灾难，但乘客和机组人员勇敢地冲进驾驶舱，重新控制了飞机，避免了这场灾难的发生。

以色列总理内塔尼亚胡表示，一架迪拜航空公司的飞机上，一名飞行员刺伤了同事，并试图“破坏飞机系统”。这导致飞机在两分钟内骤降数千英尺，引发恐慌，并迫使飞机在沙特阿拉伯紧急迫降。

据称试图撞毁飞机的飞行员尚未被公布姓名。

CNN记者杰里米·戴蒙德在迪拜飞往特拉维夫的Flydubai航班发生事故后，采访了飞机降落在以色列的乘客。据以色列总理称，机上一名飞行员在驾驶舱内刺伤了另一名飞行员，显然是试图坠毁飞机。

另一名飞行员，名叫斯密特·马赫查尔，来自印度，他奋起反抗，“成功阻止了一场9·11灾难”，内塔尼亚胡告诉CNN的吉姆·夏托。“这次事件与其他悲剧袭击的不同之处在于，这一次，正义战胜了邪恶，”内塔尼亚胡说。

该航空公司发言人表示，当值迪拜航空机组人员“成功控制”了飞机，并将其安全降落在沙特阿拉伯塔布克机场，乘客们在那里登上了另一架航班返回以色列。

内塔尼亚胡补充说，嫌疑袭击者已被拘留，并正在接受沙特当局的讯问，但事件是如何发生的，以及是什么动机促使飞行员挑起这场血腥冲突，仍然存在疑问。

迪拜航空FZ1073航班于当地时间早上6:05（美国东部时间晚上10:05）从迪拜起飞，开始向西飞往特拉维夫附近的目的地。飞行跟踪数据显示，起飞约两小时后，飞机开始迅速下降高度并急转弯向北。在不到两分钟的时间内，飞机下降了17400英尺。

该航班于上午 8:31 发出遇险呼叫，几分钟后发出代码 7500——国际民用航空组织发出的飞机劫持信号代码。

飞机俯冲时，乘客们描述了机舱内一片混乱的景象。

“我们感觉飞机突然猛地下坠，开始轻微旋转，所有人都尖叫起来，孩子们也在哭，”乘客米卡·鲍曼告诉CNN。“我当时确信自己要死了，”她说。

其他乘客挺身而出，冲进驾驶舱与袭击者搏斗。

亚尼夫·哈尤恩向内塔尼亚胡讲述了他如何用锁喉的方式制服了那名袭击者，并与其他乘客一起将他拖出了驾驶舱。哈尤恩说，之后他抓住了飞机的操纵杆，帮助控制住了飞机。

机上牙医肖塔·穆萨耶夫博士告诉CNN，他用耳机线和塑料扎带捆绑了袭击者，然后开始救治受伤的飞行员。

即使袭击者被制服后，乘客们仍然惊恐万分。

阿萨夫·拉胡安告诉CNN：“我们脚下除了沙漠什么也没有；我们害怕被带到敌国，或者降落在沙漠中央。我们不知道该相信谁。”

更出人意料的是，机上有人懂得如何驾驶飞机，他们成功地将飞机安全降落。

内塔尼亚胡和迪拜航空证实，当时在乘客区的备用飞行员成功夺回了飞机的控制权。该航班随后改道飞往沙特阿拉伯的塔布克机场，并于上午9点54分降落。

CNN航空安全分析师大卫·苏西表示，除非被调派执行其他航班，否则航班上配备额外的值班飞行员是相当不常见的。

视频截图/路透社

社交媒体上流传并经 CNN 核实的视频显示，袭击发生后，机舱内出现了令人毛骨悚然的一幕：一名身负重伤的飞行员躺在飞机地板上，他痛苦的脸被口罩部分遮住。

只见男子双手捂着胸口，鲜血淋漓。他似乎很痛苦，但意识清醒。几名乘客正在帮助他，并监测他的生命体征。

就在他旁边，由几名男子看守着另一名飞行员——机上乘客声称此人就是袭击者。他也受了伤，侧身躺着，白色的衬衫腹部周围被鲜血浸透。

一名迪拜航空乘客说：“那一刻就像亲眼目睹了一场死亡。”

穆萨耶夫告诉CNN，在迪拜航空航班上被刺伤的飞行员“大量失血”且“伤势严重”。“他浑身都是伤口——头部、双手——几乎被切开，差点被拦腰斩断。”

内塔尼亚胡确认被刺伤的飞行员是斯米特·马赫查尔，称赞这位机长是“真正的英雄”，展现了“非凡的勇气”，拯救了 174 人的生命。

“尽管被刺伤并受了重伤，他仍然奋起反抗，打开了驾驶舱门，使乘客和机组人员能够制服袭击者——从而避免了一场灾难性的空中事故，”他在 X 上写道。

沙特阿拉伯最大的航空公司表示，飞机的机长和副驾驶均已被送往医院。

目前尚不清楚涉嫌袭击马赫查尔的飞行员身份。我们也不知道他的作案动机，以及他在暴力冲突中使用的武器。

一名以色列官员称，袭击者据称是阿曼公民。阿曼和以色列没有正式外交关系，目前尚不清楚这名阿曼飞行员是如何获得飞往以色列的许可的。

据 CNN 报道，内塔尼亚胡称这些乘客“几乎都是”以色列人，他们的家人表示，这些乘客后来乘坐一架从沙特阿拉伯起飞的迪拜航空替代飞机返回以色列。

在以色列本古里安机场，乘客们在抵达之前焦急地等待着他们的亲人，一些人还带着写有“欢迎”和“很高兴你回家”的气球。

以色列机场管理局发言人表示，迪拜航空的乘客抵达以色列后，被引导至“专门的接待区”，在那里他们与医疗团队会面并接受了检查。

发言人称，一名 50 岁的男性乘客因上身受伤被送往医院，目前情况“较轻”。

多位以色列官员赞扬了机上人员的勇敢行为。以色列总统伊萨克·赫尔佐格称，这起事件最终以“奇迹”告终，并补充说，以色列和阿联酋将“共同深入调查这起事件”。

据两名美国官员称，机上乘客中有四名拥有以色列国籍的美国公民。

当局仍在调查这起骇人听闻的事件的细节，但其中许多细节仍然扑朔迷离。

一位以色列官员告诉 CNN，包括辛贝特、摩萨德、军方和交通部在内的众多以色列机构正在调查今天早上发生的迪拜航空事件。

这位官员表示，目前正在调查的主要问题之一是，为什么机组人员中包含一名来自与以色列没有外交关系的国家的飞行员。

沙特阿拉伯也将展开调查，目前嫌疑袭击者已被沙特阿拉伯拘留。沙特阿拉伯是另一个与以色列没有正式外交关系的波斯湾国家。

以色列曾多次遭遇劫机和航站楼袭击，因此实施着世界上最严格的航空安全措施。所有离境旅客除了要接受多次护照检查、高级行李扫描，有时甚至还要接受全身安检外，还必须接受预先筛查和询问。

外国航空公司必须获得以色列航空安全运营中心的批准，才能运营往返该国机场的航班。

伦敦金斯顿大学航空运营高级讲师马可·陈告诉 CNN，调查人员可能会首先检查飞行数据记录器和驾驶舱语音记录器。

他说，他们还将采访机组人员、非执勤飞行员和乘客，并确定驾驶舱门是如何打开的，武器是如何出现在飞机上的，以及飞行员的医疗和训练史。

奥默·梅辛格/Pool/路透社

以色列外交部表示，以色列外交部长吉迪恩·萨尔与阿联酋外交部长阿卜杜拉·本·扎耶德·阿勒纳哈扬通了电话，双方同意合作打击威胁安全的“极端分子”。

与此同时，迪拜航空的一位发言人周三晚些时候表示，在调查继续进行期间，迪拜航空已暂时停飞往返以色列的航班。

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普表示，他周三与内塔尼亚胡通了电话，称乘客们制服袭击者的努力是“最令人惊叹的事情”。

英国外交大臣埃德·米利班德表示，他对这起事件“深感担忧”，但“非常欣慰的是，由于机上人员的行动，飞机安全着陆”。

CNN 的 Catherine Nichols、Ivana Kottasová、Zeena Saifi、Dana Karni、Michael Rios、Hira Humayun、Jeremy Diamond、Adam Cancryn、Eyad Kourdi、Sophie Tanno 和 Billy Stockwell 对本报告做出了贡献。