FlyDubai attacker’s motive remains unknown after flight to Israel escapes disaster

Israeli passenger Yaniv Hayoun, with blood stains on his shirt, who was aboard a FlyDubai aircraft that made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, is welcomed at the arrivals gate at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday. Tomer Appelbaum/The Associated Press

The motive of the Omani co-pilot who stabbed his captain on a flight to Israel , causing the plane to plummet dangerously and forcing it to land in Saudi Arabia, remained unknown on Thursday as investigators across the region raced to learn more.

Israeli passengers who were on the FlyDubai aircraft carrying 174 people from the United Arab Emirates to Tel Aviv have described how the bloodied Indian captain managed to open the cockpit door to let them in before they grappled with the co-pilot and stabilized a descent so sharp that the plane’s rudder was torn away.

“We felt helpless, suspended in mid-air, and I didn’t know who to turn to. But it was all instinct to survive,” one of the responders, Asaf Rajuan, said in a new statement shared by Israel’s presidency.

What we know about stabbing on FlyDubai flight bound for Israel

A regional official briefed on the investigation said the suspect, an Omani citizen, was under arrest and confirmed that Saudi authorities were working with countries, including Israel, to try to determine a motive. He said the UAE, the United States and Oman also were involved. The official did not describe the extent of Israeli involvement.

“All possible scenarios, from terrorism to mental disorders, are being looked into. Nothing is ruled out for now,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the probe.

A pilot stabbed a co-pilot in the cockpit as he attempted to take control of a Tel Aviv-bound flight from the United Arab Emirates, with the aim of crashing it, according to Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israeli intelligence and security officials were investigating the co-pilot in Saudi Arabia, according to another regional official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Saudi Arabia does not have formal diplomatic ties with Israel, but there is long-standing security and intelligence co-operation through alternative channels.

Video shot inside the plane by Shota Musayev, a dentist who treated the captain, shows the co-pilot on his knees, with his hands tied behind his back. The co-pilot’s name still has not been released.

The UAE government said its investigation team had begun its work into the motive and “whether it was linked to any terrorist purpose,” adding that UAE law applies to crimes committed on board.

Capt. Smit Machchhar, widely praised as one of the heroes of the flight, was reportedly in stable condition, the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia said overnight. The condition of the co-pilot was not clear.

Asked if there is any indication of Iranian involvement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News “it’s too early to say.” The prime minister told CNN that Israel had received no specific warning.

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that he and Netanyahu discussed the incident “at length” by phone and it seemed as though the co-pilot “was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job.”

Netanyahu said he also spoke with the UAE’s president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who agreed that Israel would join the interrogation of the suspect.

Video contains graphic content: Video verified by Reuters on board the FlyDubai jet appears to show two bloodied pilots receiving first aid and a passenger describing what happened.

Netanyahu had warned in recent days of unspecified, heightened security threats. The country is a week away from the anniversary of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which has triggered the war in Gaza.

Israel’s foreign ministry said the people on board were from Israel, India and the UAE. The U.S. State Department said four passengers had American citizenship.

FlyDubai has said its flights to and from Israel would be suspended.

A screengrab taken from Flightradar24 shows a FlyDubai flight to Israel which was diverted to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. Flightradar24.com/Reuters

In the chaos that unfolded about two and a half hours after leaving Dubai, the flight descended from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet (around 10,000 meters to 5,100 meters) in about a minute, before making an erratic circle close to the Jordanian border and landing in Tabuk about an hour later, according to Flightradar24, which identified the aircraft as a Boeing 737 Max 8.

The head of the New Zealand flight school where the Indian captain trained, Philip Kean, called it “miraculous in the way that the airplane was never, ever kind of designed for that sort of dive and survive that, the airplane actually didn’t break up completely.”

Already, Trump was praising the U.S.-based Boeing for producing a plane “that was able to withstand G Forces and Strain far beyond what it was designed.”

During the frantic search for a place to land, a person who heard the flight’s communications with air traffic control described the plane being turned away by Saudi Arabia and Jordan before eventually landing in Tabuk, while passengers screamed in the background. The pilot’s voice was trembling as he called “mayday” and said a hijacking was taking place.

The air control operators gave no reason for the refusals. The person who heard the communications spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.