Passengers recount moments following alleged ‘terrorist’ attack on flight FZ1073 pilot

Flydubai flight FZ1073 passengers are sharing their experiences following a co-pilot’s alleged attempt to crash the plane after stabbing the pilot.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has credited the Indian pilot of the Dubai-Tel Aviv flight, Smit Machchhar, as well as the aircraft’s passengers, with averting catastrophe after the man was attacked by his co-pilot, sparking a fight for control of the aircraft and forcing an emergency landing.

Netanyahu said the co-pilot of the flydubai jet had been trying to crash it and kill all its passengers, with Israel’s foreign ministry denouncing the incident as “an attempted terrorist attack” aimed at damaging the country’s relationship with one of its key Middle Eastern partners.

Passengers gave similar accounts of the incident, describing rushing to the cockpit after the plane suddenly plummeted, losing more than 5,100 metres of altitude in a minute, according to the Flightradar24 website.

Flydubai said all the passengers — of whom 166 out of 174 were Israeli, according to media reports — were safe, adding that the reasons for the altercation were unknown.

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