Accused pilot being questioned in Saudi Arabia as Israeli officials investigate if incident was attempted terror attack

One of the pilots of a plane flying from the United Arab Emirates to Israel stabbed his co-pilot and appeared to try to crash the aircraft, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said, as Israeli officials said they were investigating whether the incident was an attempted terror attack on Israelis.

The stabbed pilot was identified as Indian national Captain Smit Machchhar, who was said to have made the emergency call and opened the door to the cockpit, allowing others to rush in and subdue the attacker.

“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,” Netanyahu said, crediting him with saving 174 people onboard.

  • Taldan@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    As others wrestled with the attacker, Hayoun said he grabbed the controls and pulled them the way he had seen on television. Then other crew members took over.

    Well that explains the broken rudder. Really shows the incredible engineering of modern jets, especially since it looks like it got up to roughly mach 0.9 during that descent assuming standard temperature and pressure

  • tal@lemmy.today
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    2 days ago

    The stabbed pilot was identified as Indian national Captain Smit Machchhar, who was said to have made the emergency call and opened the door to the cockpit, allowing others to rush in and subdue the attacker.

    “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,” Netanyahu said, crediting him with saving 174 people onboard.

    Damn. Good job, dude.

    I remember that FedEx flight where the pilot, copilot, and flight engineer were very severely wounded by an attacker and dying (they did ultimately survive), but still managed to get the plane down.

    EDIT: And passengers on the flight, too. Like, barricading the cockpit has often been seen as a security measure, but I’ve commented and pointed out that the window for hijacking a passenger aircraft in the US arguably ended within minutes of the first impacts with the World Trade Center. By that point, it didn’t matter whether you were going to try to claim that you were going to land the aircraft safely — the Flight 93 passengers, which were slightly later than the other planes, knew about the suicide attacks and rushed the cockpit. They learned about the impacts too late to prevent someone from getting control, but early enough to make it impossible to fly a plane to a target. And shortly after that, the shoe bomber, Richard Reid, just got swarmed by passengers the moment it was clear that something was amiss.

        • chewypoops@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          Fuck Israel, but even is your argument here? That the plane should have crashed because most of the passengers are Israeli? That the pilot should have embraced being murdered in the cockpit?

          How is disagreeing with that pro-Israel?

    • Nautalax@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      What control does he have over what someone else says about him? In your book, should he have just given up and let the guy who stabbed him crash wherever and kill the whole flight?

        • Nautalax@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          I’m a pilot’s son so I don’t like it when pilots are stabbed personally and I would especially hate that happening on my flight

          • bedwyr@piefed.ca
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            2 days ago

            I thought I was responding to someone that talked some shit. This story isf ucked up, there is more to this, as I said when I read this

            • chewypoops@lemmy.world
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              2 days ago

              You sound kinda disoriented and confused about what what we’re talking about here. Do you have a working Carbon Monoxide detector in your home? Check the batteries on that thing.

              • bedwyr@piefed.ca
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                2 days ago

                Israel;s shitbitch with a dirty asshole says what?

                Oh that’s right, we don’t care what you think.

                • chewypoops@lemmy.world
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                  1 day ago

                  Love the royal “we” when you’re getting downvoted.

                  Seriously though, you talk like a person with inadequate oxygen to the brain. My previous suggestion stands.

              • bedwyr@piefed.ca
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                2 days ago

                Why the cordinated respneses? Are you Isreal? Or some other organized assholes? Fuck you regardless, is what I would say learning you are a tool of so rich cocksuckers.

    • Taldan@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      I wouldn’t go so far as to suggest Netanyahu was behind this attack, but he’s certainly celebrating it privately

      What an incredible stroke of luck for him, to have a rallying terror* attack just before the election

      *It might not even be terrorism, but it doesn’t matter. Bibi is siezing the chance and declaring it terrorism, and no matter what he won’t let that narrative change until after the election