NIA probes mid-air axe attack on Indian pilot of flydubai flight

The NIA is probing a mid-air axe attack on Indian Captain Smit Machchhar aboard a flydubai flight. The co-pilot, who has been detained, allegedly planned a terror attack to crash the plane into the passenger terminal at Tel Aviv's airport.

Captain Smit Machchhar (Photo: @indemtel)

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has registered a case to probe the mid-air cockpit attack on Captain Smit Machchhar aboard a flydubai flight, according to officials. This comes following the foiled mid-air hijacking and crash attempt aboard flydubai Flight FZ1073 on September 30, when Omani co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami attacked Indian Captain Smit Machchhar inside the cockpit. The Omani co-pilot attacked Captain Machchhar with an axe in an attempt to bring down the aircraft. Despite suffering severe injuries, Captain Machchhar managed to unlatch the cockpit door, allowing passengers and off-duty crew members to enter and restrain the attacker. The confrontation triggered a steep descent, with the aircraft dropping approximately 16,000 feet within two minutes before a hijacking distress signal was transmitted. The aircraft was subsequently diverted and made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, with all 180 occupants disembarking without injury. (ANI)

Captain Machchhar is currently recovering in a hospital in Abu Dhabi after sustaining severe injuries in the mid-air incident involving his co-pilot on September 30.

Co-pilot Planned Terror Attack

Meanwhile, the UAE Attorney-General Counsellor Dr Hamad Saif Al Shamsi on Friday (local time) said an investigation into the incident involving flydubai flight FZ1073 revealed that the aircraft's Omani co-pilot had allegedly planned a terrorist attack to seize control of the plane and crash it into the passenger terminal at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, with the aim of causing maximum casualties, according to UAE state news agency WAM. UAE Attorney-General said the 29-year-old suspect had begun carrying out the alleged plot during a flight scheduled to travel from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30, 2026.

Suspect's Radicalisation Traced to 2017

According to WAM, the investigation traced the suspect's ideological and professional background and found that signs of his alleged radicalisation first emerged in 2017, when he was studying in Australia. During that period, he was influenced by extremist literature and online content glorifying terrorist organisations and suicide attacks. The Attorney-General said the suspect subsequently adopted ideas advocating violence and terrorism and drew inspiration from the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. The idea of carrying out a similar operation using an aircraft had become firmly established in his thinking, according to his confession, as reported by WAM. (ANI)

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