The National Investigation Agency has registered a case to investigate a suspected larger conspiracy behind the mid-air attack on Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar aboard an Israel-bound flydubai flight last month, according to news agency PTI.
The agency’s First Information Report, filed on October 9, names the Omani first officer as the accused. It alleges that he stabbed Machchhar inside the cockpit of flight 1073 on September 30, 2026, “in an apparent attempt to hijack or cause it to crash”.
Machchhar sustained critical injuries, including deep cuts to his head and hands, according to the FIR. Passengers and crew overpowered and restrained the first officer, while other flydubai pilots on board landed the aircraft safely in Saudi Arabia.
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The NIA registered the case on the Home Ministry’s direction, citing the gravity of the offence, its national and international ramifications and the need to uncover a larger conspiracy, officials said. The agency invoked Section 3 of the Anti Hijacking Act, 2016, and Section 16 read with Section 15(1)(a) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
According to the FIR, the aircraft departed Dubai for Tel Aviv at 7.05 am Gulf Standard Time with 174 passengers and six crew members. At around 9.21 am, it descended rapidly and turned back into Saudi airspace while flying near the Jordan-Saudi Arabia border.
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Passengers reported that the first officer had stabbed Machchhar during the flight in an apparent attempt to hijack or crash the aircraft, the FIR said. The aircraft landed at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Airport in Tabuk, northwestern Saudi Arabia, at 10.45 am Gulf Standard Time. Saudi authorities subsequently arrested the first officer, according to the FIR.
The Central government determined that an offence covered by the NIA Act, 2008, had been committed and that the attack on an Indian national warranted a thorough investigation by the agency.
On September 30, Machchhar helped save the lives of 172 passengers and his fellow crew members aboard flydubai Flight 1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv. He was stabbed by his co-pilot, Omani national Hamam al-Hammami, in an apparent attempt to crash the aircraft.
Machchhar, who has been hailed as a “hero” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is making steady progress and is regaining his health at a hospital in the United Arab Emirates.
ALSOÂ READ | ‘Hero To Humanity’: Israel President Writes To Flydubai Pilot Smit Machchhar, Confers Highest Civilian Award
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