Video Interview – Flydubai Captain Recalls Axe Attack by Co-Pilot Mid-Flight

If you’ve ever flown through Dubai on your way out of Kuwait, this is the kind of story that makes you pay closer attention to the safety briefing. A flydubai captain has now spoken publicly about surviving an axe attack by his own co-pilot, mid-flight, over Saudi airspace.

Captain Smit Machchhar gave the interview from a hospital bed in Abu Dhabi, his head and left arm still bandaged. He described blocking blows aimed at his head, freeing himself from his seatbelt, and screaming for help as the aircraft dropped thousands of feet in seconds.

What the captain said happened

Machchhar told The National newspaper, in an interview published on Saturday, that when the first blow landed he thought something had gone wrong with the aircraft itself. It took him a moment to realise he was actually being attacked.

“The next thought was I need to get help in here,” he said. He said his first move was to get out of his seatbelt and try to block the blows as best he could. His arm was wounded as he defended himself from the strikes to his head.

“I believe that was the first time when I lost my consciousness,” he said, describing the attack as the moment things “took a drastic turn.”

As we reported on 9 October, UAE investigators believe the attack was part of a planned suicide attack aimed at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. The crash axe used in the attack is a tool normally kept in cockpits only for emergency use, not as a weapon.

How the flight was brought down safely

The attack happened while the aircraft was over Saudi airspace. In the chaos, the plane plunged roughly 16,000 feet, about 4,900 metres, in just 30 seconds.

Two other pilots who were on board managed to overwhelm the attacker and take back control of the aircraft. They landed the plane safely in Saudi Arabia rather than continuing to Tel Aviv.

Machchhar said he heard the cockpit door open and recalled screaming happening “between my colleague and the guy” as the struggle continued. The suspect was later moved from Saudi Arabia to the UAE, flydubai’s home country, where the investigation is now based.

Why UAE prosecutors believe this was planned

The UAE attorney general’s office has said the co-pilot intended to crash the aircraft, calling it an attempted suicide attack. Investigators say the plan was inspired by the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

A criminal investigation was opened on 1 October, and it is continuing. No trial date or further charges have been confirmed yet, and the source material does not say when the case will next move forward.

What this means if you fly through the Gulf

This incident comes during a period when flight disruption and security concerns across the Gulf have been in the news. Just last month, a separate fight on a Dubai to Tel Aviv flight triggered a hijack alert, and flights through Saudi airports have faced their own security issues in recent weeks.

The US Embassy in Kuwait has also issued a warning about regional flight risks, and a similar alert has gone out more broadly to Americans travelling in the Gulf region. None of these warnings are directly tied to the flydubai case, but they show that airlines, airports and governments in the region are all on edge right now.

For residents of Kuwait, many of whom use Dubai as a connecting hub for international travel, this is a reminder to keep an eye on official airline and airport advisories before booking, especially on routes through contested airspace. You can follow our latest international news for updates as this case and the wider regional security picture develop.

It’s also worth noting that the UAE recently removed criminal penalties for attempted suicide, a separate but related policy shift that has come up in public discussion around mental health and aviation safety in the region.

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