By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-09-30 20:55:58 | Updated at 2026-09-30 21:51:27
1 hour ago
Israel is investigating a "9/11-style plot" to crash a passenger jet into a skyscraper.
A FlyDubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv with 180 passengers diverted earlier today over Jordanian airspace towards Saudi Arabia after transmitting emergency signals.
Top secret service officials in Israel suspect the co-pilot stabbed the campaign in a bid to crash the plane as part of an attempted terror attack.
“This is thought to be a 9/11 scenario where the co-pilot kills the pilot and crashes the plane inside of Israel with all the passengers, mostly Israelis," an insider told The Telegraph.
Eyewitnesses have said the co-pilot launched such an attack, but passengers managed to overcome the attempt.
The co-pilot has now been arrested in Saudi Arabia. His identity and motive remain unknown.
The pilot, understood to be an Omani national, attacked his co-pilot and attempted to take control of the aircraft
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The Israel-bound fight took a nosedive of 15,000ft in 37 seconds
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A trio of sources suspected a 9/11-style of hijacking a plane to fly it into a major building would become a major point in the ongoing investigation.
Since the attempted attack, a passenger donning a blood-soaked shirt has been hailed as a hero after wrestling an alleged terrorist out of the cockpit before taking control over the aircraft.
Mr Netanyahu met the passenger, Yaniv Hayun, earlier today, where he was hailed as a hero.
He told the Prime Minister: "When I went in, I saw the terrorist on the controls, between the two seats. There were no pilots in the seats.
"I grabbed the terrorist, put him in a hold, and first of all pulled him outside."
A replacement FlyDubai plane landed at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv earlier today
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He added: "I jumped back in there, grabbed the controls, started pulling the controls."
Mr Hayun has since landed back in Tel Aviv after another pilot took the controls from the brave passenger to land the plane.
The pilot who was stabbed, identified as Smit Machchhar, is said to be stable and out of surgery, one of his friends said.
He has also been hailed as a hero, with the Foreign Ministry saying : "This man is a hero. Captain Smit Machchhar, the Indian captain of FlyDubai Flight 1073, fought back after being stabbed in the cockpit.
"Despite being severely injured, he managed to unlock the cockpit door – allowing Israeli passengers and the Emirati crew to intervene and save all the passengers.
Captain Smit Machchhar was hailed a hero
ISRAEL MINISTRY
"Together, their extraordinary courage saved 174 lives. One extraordinary act of courage. We wish Captain Machchhar a full and speedy recovery."
During the chaotic scramble for power which caused the aircraft to nosedive 15,000ft in 37 seconds, Mr Machchhar managed to open the cockpit door.
In footage shared online in the aftermath, the pilots could be seen soaked in blood.
Israel Katz, Israel's defence minister, called the event an "attempted jihadist attack".
He heaped praise onto the "heroism of several Israeli passengers who stormed the cockpit, subdued the terrorist and, with their own hands, restored control of the plane to another flight crew that was present there".
Mr Katz said: “According to the preliminary information we have, the terrorist had one intention: to crash the plane with all its passengers on board.”
