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Dubai-based airline Flydubai has suspended all flights to Israel for six days after one pilot stabbed another aboard a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Monday, forcing the aircraft to divert to Saudi Arabia, Israeli officials and media reported.
The attacked pilot, identified by the Indian embassy in Riyadh as Smit Machchhar, is in stable condition and receiving necessary medical attention at a hospital in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, the embassy said Wednesday.
"We hope that he recovers from his injuries at the earliest," the embassy said, adding that it remains in contact with his family.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the assailant, the flight's other pilot, appeared to attempt to crash the aircraft before passengers and crew intervened to subdue him.
Flydubai flight FZ1073 was carrying roughly 174 people when the altercation broke out in the cockpit.
The aircraft transmitted a general emergency code, followed by a hijacking alert, while flying over Jordanian airspace, before diverting and landing safely at Tabuk airport.
Israeli broadcaster Kanal 12 reported that cabin crew and several passengers forced open the cockpit door to intervene in the fight between the two pilots.
Netanyahu's office identified one of the passengers who helped subdue the attacking pilot as Yaniv Hayun, who was later seen at Ben Gurion Airport still wearing a bloodied shirt.
Netanyahu credited Hayun and a crew member with overpowering the pilot and saving the lives of the 174 people aboard, including Israeli citizens and other nationals.
Both pilots were hospitalized with injuries, according to Tabuk airport officials. Flydubai said the aircraft was secured by the on-duty crew traveling on board, though the airline initially said the cause of the cockpit dispute was unclear.
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Passengers were later flown to Israel aboard a replacement Flydubai aircraft, which landed at Ben Gurion Airport. Netanyahu's office said it had ordered increased security measures for Israeli and international carriers operating in and out of the country following the incident.
According to Israel Hayom, Flydubai's six-day suspension of its Israel operations followed a security review conducted in the incident's aftermath, with Israeli airlines stepping in to operate rescue flights in the carrier's place.
Israeli authorities are also examining whether the assignment of an Omani pilot to the route violated terms of the aviation agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
Flydubai began direct flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv in 2020, after Israel and the UAE normalized relations under the Abraham Accords. An investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
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