ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — The co-pilot of a Flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv attacked the captain with an axe in an attempted terrorist act, the United Arab Emirates’ attorney general said Saturday.
Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said investigators found that the co-pilot began carrying out his plan during Flight FZ1073 from Dubai, according to the official Emirates News Agency. The co-pilot attacked the captain with a crash axe inside the flight deck and tried to take control of the aircraft, Al Shamsi said.
Investigators are still working to establish the full circumstances, motives and any links connected to the incident, he added. Technical examinations and analysis of physical and digital evidence are also underway, with final results to be announced once all necessary procedures are complete.
The statement did not name the co-pilot. Its account of the weapon also differs from earlier reports, which said the co-pilot used a knife.
UAE Deputy Prime Minister Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum visited Capt. Smit Machchhar, the Indian pilot wounded in the attack, on Saturday. In a post on X after the visit, Hamdan described Machchhar as a pilot who embodied “the highest degrees of courage, responsibility, and care for human life.”
“We are proud that he is part of our team,” Hamdan wrote, adding that Machchhar had the full appreciation of the country’s leadership.
The attack occurred Wednesday, as the flight traveled from Dubai to Tel Aviv. Machchhar has said he opened the cockpit door during the struggle, allowing passengers to enter and subdue the attacker.
Two reserve pilots aboard then diverted the plane to Saudi Arabia, where it made an emergency landing. Machchhar received initial treatment there and is now hospitalized in Abu Dhabi.
Shota Musayev, a dentist who was a passenger on the flight, said Machchhar was seriously injured and had lost a large amount of blood.
Machchhar described the attack Friday in a video conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He told Modi he collapsed on the cockpit floor and could feel the plane descending.
He said he made one last effort to reach the door while the attacker kept hitting him. “And I opened the door. Then everyone came in,” Machchhar said, according to a translated transcript of the call.
Even as he fought for his own life, he told Modi, he was thinking of the others aboard.
“I knew I couldn’t let everyone else die.”
The prime minister praised his response. “Your courage, patience and ability to make quick decisions have saved many lives,” Modi said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also praised Machchhar in a post on X. Netanyahu wrote that the pilot fought back despite being stabbed and seriously injured, an account that differs from the attorney general’s description of an axe attack.
Netanyahu credited Machchhar with preventing a disaster in midair and saving 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals. That figure was not independently verified.
Netanyahu’s office said he later met with passengers who helped subdue the attacker, including Musayev. According to the office, the passengers said they tied up the attacking pilot with a headphone cable.
