Flydubai pilot Smit Machchhar suffered severe injuries during an alleged attempted hijacking of his Israel-bound flight, including a head stab wound and an arm injury so serious that it was “split in two,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday. He also praised the passengers who intervened, describing their actions as “Hollywood on steroids.”
Machchhar, an Indian national, was reportedly found barely conscious and covered in blood after being attacked Wednesday by his co-pilot. Netanyahu told “Fox and Friends” that the co-pilot was an “Islamist radical” who appeared intent on carrying out a suicide mission aboard the Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight.
“He was stabbed in the head, and his arm was basically split in two, and there was a lot of blood,” Netanyahu said, describing the pilot’s injuries.
The Israeli prime minister expressed particular admiration for the passengers who sprang into action as the Boeing 737 Max plunged roughly 17,000 feet in two minutes while no one was controlling the aircraft. Among those who helped was reportedly a plumber.
Passengers restrained the alleged attacker with a headphone cord, while others — including off-duty pilots traveling on the flight — moved into the cockpit and took over the controls. Their intervention prevented the plane from crashing in the Arabian desert.
“These are ordinary civilians, you know Israeli citizens, who became heroes — superheroes,” Netanyahu said, emphasizing the extraordinary courage displayed during the emergency.
“They got control over the situation and we could be sitting today in a 9-11 tragedy, with bodies scattered in the desert,” he said.
“This is Hollywood on steroids. You can’t make this up. You can’t believe that it actually happens in real life — but it did.”
Netanyahu said a dentist aboard the aircraft also rushed to assist Machchhar. Disturbing video appeared to show the injured pilot lying on his back in the galley, with blood smeared across the wall and an oxygen mask covering his mouth.
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Two relief pilots who had been scheduled to operate a later flight helped stabilize the aircraft and guided it to an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
The co-pilot was later seen restrained and wearing a blood-covered pilot’s uniform. According to Netanyahu, he repeatedly pleaded with the crew to kill him.
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“It’s clear he was suicidal. That’s not a question. It was clear he was going to down that plane,” Netanyahu told Fox.
Netanyahu said the unidentified co-pilot had apparently undergone “Islamist radical indoctrination” before the incident. However, he acknowledged that authorities had not established whether the man had ties to Iran or any other terrorist organization.
The co-pilot had reportedly been employed by Flydubai for less than one year.
It remains unknown whether the pilot was attacked with a knife brought onto the plane or with an axe kept among the aircraft’s standard emergency equipment. Netanyahu also pointed to Israeli restrictions that prevent pilots from nations without diplomatic relations with Israel, including Oman, from flying into the country.
“Obviously there was a loophole here, and we’re taking care of that, among other things,” Netanyahu said.
