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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is calling the Indian captain of a flydubai flight a true hero after the pilot, despite being stabbed and badly hurt, managed to save the lives of 174 people on board.

Writing on X, Netanyahu saluted Captain Smit Machchhar, describing how the wounded pilot fought back against his attacker, forced open the cockpit door, and gave passengers and crew the chance to step in and overpower the man responsible. Netanyahu credited that split second decision with averting what could have been a devastating disaster in mid air. He wished the captain a full and speedy recovery, calling him a genuine hero.

The Israeli PM isn’t alone. The Israeli Foreign Ministry also released a statement saluting Captain Smit Machchhar’s courage. “This man is a hero. Captain Smit Machchhar, the Indian captain of flydubai Flight 1073, fought back after being stabbed in the cockpit. Despite being severely injured, he managed to unlock the cockpit door – allowing Israeli passengers and the Emirati crew to intervene and save all the passengers,” the statement reads.

“We wish Captain Machchhar a full and speedy recovery,” the statement adds.

The Speaker of Israel’s Knesset (parliament), Amir Ohana, wrote on X that “the people of Israel are praying for Captain Smit Machchhar, the brave Indian pilot who fought off his co-pilot’s mid-air attack to save the Israeli passengers aboard flydubai flight FZ1073.”

“In a moment of terror, he showed extraordinary courage. Today, our hearts are with him and his family,” he added. The US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, wrote that “the Indian pilot is a hero & being celebrated all over Israel tonight.”

The chief foreign affairs correspondent of the Wall Street Journal called Captain Machchhar “The hero who saved hundreds of lives.” American billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman called the Indian pilot a “hero”.

A spokesperson for Netanyahu, Doron Spielman, filled in more details on how the situation unfolded. According to Spielman, Machchhar had been stabbed and left bleeding by his Omani copilot, yet still managed to use whatever strength he had left to trigger the release on the cockpit door, according to the Times of Israel. That single action allowed several Israeli passengers to rush in and take control of the situation. Spielman described the scene passengers walked into: the injured captain down on the floor, while the attacking pilot stood over the control panel, striking it repeatedly.

Once the cockpit was secured, off duty flydubai pilots who happened to be seated among the passengers stepped in and carried out an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

The Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia released a statement confirming that officials in Riyadh and the consulate in Jeddah have been closely monitoring Machchhar’s condition. He remains hospitalized in Tabuk, in northwestern Saudi Arabia, receiving medical treatment.

While a complete health update is still pending, he’s reportedly in stable condition. The embassy said it remains in contact with his family and will continue coordinating with Saudi authorities to support his recovery in every way possible.

The chaos began when one pilot stabbed the other mid flight, sending the Emirati aircraft into a sudden, terrifying plunge of thousands of feet before crew members and passengers managed to wrestle back control. Passengers described a scene of pure panic, overhead bins flying open, parents grabbing hold of their children, and video from inside the cabin showing at least one bloodied man along with others covered in blood.

The plane eventually made an emergency landing in Tabuk, and by Wednesday night, all passengers had safely reached Israel aboard a replacement aircraft sent by flydubai. Many shared their own accounts of the ordeal after landing. One passenger, a dentist named Shota Musev, said he was among the first to reach the cockpit, where he found the injured pilot on the ground and treated him mid flight for serious wounds to his head and cuts on his fingers.

Sixteen year old Peleg Itali, a high school student on board, recalled the sheer terror of the moment, saying he thought he was finished and didn’t deserve to die that way. Another passenger, Asaf Rajuan, said he and five others reacted purely on instinct, working together to restrain the attacker once they realized the plane had spun out of control. He described the nosedive lasting somewhere between 10 and 15 seconds, and said the only way they made it through was by relying on each other, admitting they likely wouldn’t have survived otherwise.

Netanyahu said in a video statement that the attacking pilot appeared to be attempting to crash the plane deliberately, with passengers on board who were almost entirely Israeli. What actually triggered the cockpit confrontation remains unclear, and Israeli officials say they’re exploring multiple possibilities, including whether it was a targeted attack against Israelis or a suicide attempt, though nothing has been officially confirmed.

The aircraft had sent out distress signals and unexpectedly reversed course near the Saudi Jordanian border before landing in Tabuk around 9:45 a.m. local time, carrying somewhere between 160 and 180 passengers, according to Israeli officials. Both pilots were hospitalized in Saudi Arabia following the incident. Separately, three Israeli security sources said they believe the pilot behind the attack was a citizen of Oman.

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