A pilot on a Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight has been arrested after he stabbed the other pilot in the cockpit and appears to have tried to crash the plane, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said.
Netanyahu hailed the injured Flydubai pilot — who was named by the prime minister as Captain Smit Machchhar — a "true hero" for saving the lives of 174 people.
“Despite being stabbed and seriously injured, he fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door, and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker — preventing a catastrophic mid-air disaster,” he said on X.
The other pilot had apparently stabbed his colleague and tried to crash the plane, on which dozens of Israelis were travelling, Netanyahu said. During the altercation, the plane plummeted 17,400 feet in just over two minutes.
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