The pilot injured when a colleague attacked him aboard a FlyDubai aircraft is believed to be an Indian citizen named Smit Machchhar, according to infohub.kz.
Citing the Hindustan Times, the report said Machchhar was the captain on a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv when the first officer stabbed him, forcing an emergency landing at an airport in Saudi Arabia. There was no information on his condition.
Machchhar had served as a captain on FlyDubai's Boeing 737 fleet since June 2022, according to the report. Before that, he spent 11 years at Mumbai-based SpiceJet, where he was a captain and, from November 2020, an instructor who trained and checked other pilots. His profile lists 9,750 flight hours on the 737-800 and 737 MAX 8 and 9.
According to the LinkedIn profile cited by the publication, Machchhar joined FlyDubai directly as a captain. The profile states he logged more than 6,400 hours as a captain at SpiceJet and wants to join FlyDubai's instructor team.
Israeli Air Force fighter jets were scrambled toward the aircraft. It was later reported that the plane landed in Saudi Arabia. FlyDubai then told Israeli television that a fight had broken out between the pilots on the Dubai–Tel Aviv flight. First photos and videos from the plane soon appeared. One image showed a passenger who was apparently struggling with the attacker. Authorities are also investigating the possibility that one of the pilots deliberately tried to crash the plane. It is believed that the first officer and Israeli passengers intervened, fighting him off and preventing a disaster.
Another version of the pilots' citizenship also emerged. After claims of Russian and Ukrainian citizenship, reports said the pilots held Omani and Emirati citizenship.
Later, information appeared that one of the pilots may have died from stab wounds after the attack.
Media also reported that pilots from Ukraine and Russia were traveling as passengers and took control of the FlyDubai aircraft.