Netanyahu says FlyDubai pilots prevented a "9/11 disaster"
Source: www.axios.com ·
Section: politics ·
Bias: Right
· Published: Wed, 30 Sep 2026 23:17:03 GMT
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed new details about a FlyDubai flight bound for Israel during which a pilot stabbed a colleague, sending the plane spiraling thousands of feet.The big picture: Netanyahu told CNN Wednesday evening that the Indian pilot who was stabbed, Capt. Smit Machchhar, unlocked the cockpit after being attacked and an Israeli passenger who works as a plumber, Yaniv Hayun, entered and found the Omani pilot apparently trying to interfere with the aircraft's controls.Netanyahu said the suspect was being interrogated in Saudi Arabia and that the UAE agreed Israel could participate in the interrogation.What they're saying: The Israeli prime minister told CNN's Jim Sciutto that passengers heard shouts and screams coming from the cockpit and that the plumber saw the attacking pilot hovering over the instruments, noting "he was trying to jam the instruments."The plumber pulled back on the aircraft's controls, while another passenger and crew member subdued the attacker, according to Netanyahu. Reserve pilots then came in and stabilized the plane.Netanyahu said he met Hayun at the airport and that the passenger was "drenched" in the Indian pilot's blood.President Trump said Netanyahu and others had briefed him on what happened.He called the stabbed pilot a "hero" for managing to open the cockpit door and also praised the plumber's actions.Flashback: Netanyahu noted his own history with hijackings: He was wounded while taking part in the 1972 Israeli commando raid that freed passengers from a hijacked Sabena flight. His brother Yoni was killed four years later while leading the Entebbe hostage rescue.Reality check: Netanyahu made clear that investigators don't have any specific information that Tehran had anything to do with this incident.The bottom line: "Those pilots managed to prevent a 9/11 disaster, because that's what it looks like was happening," Netanyahu said.
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