By The Daily Wire (World News) | Created at 2026-10-01 18:05:56 | Updated at 2026-10-01 23:01:40
9 hours ago
President Donald Trump suggested Thursday that Iran may be linked to the terrorist who is accused of attempting to crash a Flydubai flight full of Israelis.
Asked by Fox News’ Peter Doocy about the matter on Thursday, Trump said that the investigation into the act of terrorism is ongoing, and that it seemed possible that Iran was linked to the matter.
“I would say the answer, based on what I’m hearing, is yes, but we’re working on it right now,” Trump responded.
Another reporter asked the president if the United States would retaliate against Iran if they were involved in the act of terrorism.
“Oh they’ll be hit very hard,” he responded. “Don’t worry. You just ask them. They know what happened.”
The attempted hijacking startled the world when news broke on Wednesday of a scuffle between the two pilots — then that the Omani pilot had allegedly stabbed Indian Captain Smit Machchhar in an attempt to fly the plane into the ground. The attack took place as Flydubai Flight FZ1073 headed from from Dubai to Tel Aviv. There were 174 passengers, including 20 children, aboard. Many of the passengers were Israelis, and there were also four Americans aboard.
Machchhar fought back against his assailant and somehow opened the door to the cockpit, which allowed the passengers to run to his aid and fight off the terrorist attacker. Two off-duty pilots who were on board then took control of the plane and landed it safely in Saudi Arabia.
Assaf Regavim, one of the passengers who stormed the cockpit to stop the pilot, speaks to a scrum of television reporters and camera crews outside the terminal at Ben Gurion Airport on September 30, 2026 in Tzafria, Israel. (Photo by Erik Marmor/Getty Images)
On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared that investigators found that the co-pilot “underwent Islamist radical indoctrination.”
“That appears to be something we are gathering from his personal information,” Netanyahu said.
Israeli journalist Yosef Yisrael reported that the Omani co-pilot behaved in an unusually strict manner before the incident, saying that the pilot’s religious behavior was “out of step with his surroundings.” The Omani pilot prayed frequently and “would not shake hands with women,” according to Yisrael, who spoke with a co-worker of the suspect.
“There is no other way to put it,” the coworker said, “we hired the services of a terrorist and nearly caused the deaths of 180 people.”
