A flydubai co‑pilot is reported to have assaulted the captain before the aircraft made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, where the captain and passengers overpowered the suspect and later rerouted the plane to prevent a crash.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the co‑pilot had undergone Islamist radical indoctrination, while authorities in the United Arab Emirates are investigating a possible terror link to the incident. Saudi Arabia's interior ministry reported that the co‑pilot was transferred from the kingdom to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday morning accompanied by an Emirati security team, adding that its initial investigation confirmed the assault on the captain. Netanyahu later credited the flydubai pilot, Indian national Smit Machchhar, along with the passengers, for averting a catastrophe after the co‑pilot allegedly stabbed the captain and attempted to crash the plane.
