Pilot who thwarted 'Israel's 9/11' was 'stabbed in head' and had 'arm split in two' by knife-attacking colleague aboard hijacked flight
Captain Smit Machchhar was attacked in the apparent terror plot which Israel claimed was a was part of a "9/11-style plot"
The hero pilot who was attacked his knife-wielding colleague was stabbed in the head and had his arm "split into two".
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Indian national Captain Smit Machchhar was attacked by his co-pilot on the flight headed for Tel Aviv from Dubai in an attempted hijacking on Wednesday.
Israel has suggested the plot was part of a 9/11-style plot to crash the flight and kill all those aboard.
Video footage emerged showing the moment a group of passengers took control of the Flydubai jet, which showed two men, believed to be the pilot and co-pilot, covered in blood.
Read more: Foreign ministers 'to review UK flight safety' after cockpit stabbing on Israel-bound plane
Despite his wounds, Captain Machchhar was able to allow others into the heavily fortified cockpit, with several then restraining the terror suspect and successfully executing an emergency landing.
Providing an update on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the horror of the captain's injuries.
He told Fox & Friends: "He was stabbed in the head, and his arm was basically split in two.
"There was a lot of blood."
He added: "He gave immediate treatment to this brave Indian pilot who was attacked by this Omani pilot, and then he says, listen, hold on for a second.
He earlier described him as a "true hero" for helping to foil the attempted hijacking.
The courageous aviator was taken to hospital after the plane landed in Saudi Arabia , where his condition was described as stable.
Two off-duty pilots on board managed to take over the controls and carry out the emergency landing after passengers overpowered the attacker as he attempted to crash the jet.
One pilot, who is British and another, described as "European," were in transit on the flight when the attempted hijacking took place.
Pictures emerged last night of relieved passengers finally landing in Israel, where friends and family welcomed them.
Mr Netanyahu previously wrote on X: "My salute to the Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar for his extraordinary bravery.
"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 saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals.
"I wish Captain Machchhar a speedy and full recovery. He is a true hero."
His defence minister, Israel Katz, said the "jihadist" attacker "intended to kill" all 147 passengers, including 27 children.
Both Smit and his co-pilot suffered knife wounds during the cockpit struggle, with shocking video footage showing the pair lying on the floor covered in blood.
A hijack alert was sent from FlyDubai flight FZ1073 as the plane plunged 14,000 feet in the space of a few minutes.
A 7500 code was issued while flying over Saudi Arabia, which means a hijacking or unlawful interference was in motion.
The underlying reasons for the incident are still unknown, Flydubai has said.
Another passenger, identified only as Miriam, told Israel’s i24 channel that one of the pilots was stabbed and that there were moments she feared for her life.
She said: "We just heard screams, and then the cockpit door opened and we saw a huge amount of blood.
"The plane was completely out of control. There were moments when all of us here were certain we weren’t going to make it out alive."