New Video Shows Chaos Aboard Flydubai Flight After Attack on Indian Pilot Smit Machchhar

Newly released footage from aboard flydubai flight FZ1073 shows the chaotic moments after passengers and crew stopped an apparent attempt by the co-pilot to crash the aircraft, with a bloodied Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar lying on the floor outside the cockpit.

The video, aired by Israel's Channel 12 and filmed from a seat near the cockpit, captures people shouting in a mixture of English and Hebrew, with one voice saying ‘he tried to crash the plane’ while others yell ‘take him out’ in the direction of the cockpit and tell cabin passengers to sit down.

Calls for a doctor, and the pilot's words

Amid the chaos, calls for a doctor are heard, and an Israeli dentist, Dr Shota Musayev, rushes to the front of the plane to give medical treatment. Another man asks whether there is an additional pilot on board, to which someone responds affirmatively.

The footage then shows Captain Machchhar lying in a pool of his own blood on the ground outside the cockpit. He is heard saying the co-pilot ‘hit’ him ‘so many times’, and that he can move his injured hand but can no longer squeeze it shut.

Emergency landing and investigation

The video resumes after the plane made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, as medics attend to Machchhar. Passengers are heard telling ground staff that the co-pilot ‘is a terrorist’ as police teams arrive at the aircraft.

Machchhar, who earlier managed to open the cockpit door despite his injuries — allowing passengers to rush in and overpower the attacker — is credited with saving the lives of all 174 people on board the Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight.

The footage comes amid continuing investigations into the co-pilot, an Omani national. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed the co-pilot underwent radical Islamist indoctrination, while the United Arab Emirates has said it will examine a possible terror link and has formed a team to probe the incident.