Trump called Indian captain Smit Machchhar a hero after a flydubai co-pilot stabbing. A plumber helped steady the dive. Flight FZ1073 landed in Tabuk.
https://www.thehindu.com/
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday called flydubai captain Smit Machchhar a hero after the Indian pilot was stabbed in the cockpit of a Dubai–Tel Aviv flight. Recounting what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told him, Trump said an Israeli plumber with no flying experience pulled the co-pilot off the controls and steadied the plunging jet before it could crash. Trump also said he could not confirm the account: “That’s the story that I heard. I don’t know if it’s true.”
The incident happened on 30 September 2026 aboard flydubai flight FZ1073. The aircraft was carrying about 174 people, most of them Israeli. It sent emergency signals, dropped sharply, and diverted to Prince Sultan Bin Abdel Aziz Airport in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where it landed safely.
Israeli officials and multiple news reports say the co-pilot stabbed the captain. The captain is Indian national Smit Machchhar, based in Dubai. Some reports identify the co-pilot as Omani. Trump told reporters at the Oval Office that the pilot was “in very bad shape” but still had the presence of mind to open the cockpit door, fall back, and scream for help.
“The pilot was in very bad shape; I guess he still is in very bad shape, but he had the sense to, amazing, to, in a way, he was a hero.”
Cockpit doors cannot be opened from the outside. That is why the injured captain’s decision to unlock the door is the detail Indian and international coverage has focused on. Without it, passengers could not have entered.
Trump described the passenger as an Israeli plumber. Israeli reports name him as Yaniv Hayun, also spelled Hayoun. According to the account Trump said he heard from Netanyahu:
A video shared by Netanyahu’s office showed Hayun in a bloodied shirt embracing the prime minister. Netanyahu told him: “I look at you and I see a lion. I see a great hero.”
This part needs a clear line. Reuters and flight-tracking reports say passengers and crew overpowered the co-pilot, and a second pair of flydubai pilots who were already on board then landed the aircraft in Tabuk. Trump’s claim that the plumber took the controls and leveled the dive is a second-hand account. He said so himself.
Outlets citing flight-tracking data have given slightly different figures:
The rudder was heavily damaged. After touchdown, passengers clapped and cheered. Saudi authorities arrested the co-pilot. Both pilots were hospitalized.
Trump said he spoke to Netanyahu at length. His words: the co-pilot was “perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack-job,” and he stabbed the pilot. Trump added that the people he spoke to believed the co-pilot meant to bring the plane down, but that they did not have firm information.
The motive is not publicly confirmed. The investigation sits with Saudi authorities and the other agencies involved.
Netanyahu’s office and Indian outlets including India Today, NDTV, and Livemint identified the stabbed captain as Smit Machchhar. Trump called him a hero because, after being stabbed, he opened the door and called for help. That action is what let people outside the cockpit intervene.
It also shows the post-9/11 cockpit-door rule in practice. The door does not open from the cabin, so the pilot inside was the last line before passengers could reach the controls.
Update this piece when Saudi, UAE, Israeli, or flydubai statements add a confirmed motive. Until then, keep “alleged” on the intent to crash the aircraft.
