Flydubai pilots transferred to UAE for questioning

The two pilots involved in a violent cockpit altercation aboard flydubai flight FZ1073 have been transferred from Saudi Arabia to Abu Dhabi, placing them directly within a UAE investigation seeking to establish what triggered the mid-air emergency.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior said the captain and co-pilot left for Abu Dhabi on Thursday after receiving medical clearance, accompanied by a UAE security team. Preliminary Saudi findings established that the co-pilot assaulted the captain during the flight and that both men suffered injuries.

The UAE Attorney-General, Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, has formed a specialised Public Prosecution team to gather evidence, determine the circumstances and motive, and examine whether the incident involved terrorist activity, prior planning or direction. Authorities have cautioned against drawing conclusions before the investigation is completed.

The inquiry is also expected to depend heavily on evidence from the Boeing 737’s cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder. Authorities have not publicly disclosed the status or contents of those devices, leaving investigators still to reconstruct precisely what happened on the flight deck and how control of the aircraft was affected.

Flight FZ1073 was travelling from Dubai International Airport to Tel Aviv on September 30 when the emergency developed. Saudi authorities authorised the aircraft to divert to Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk, where it landed safely at 9.45am with 174 passengers and eight crew members aboard.

Flydubai has said an altercation occurred on the flight deck and that crew members travelling aboard the aircraft intervened to secure it. The airline’s first statement confirmed that all passengers were safe and accounted for and said it was working with the relevant authorities.

The UAE says its judicial authorities have jurisdiction because the aircraft is registered in the Emirates and flies the UAE flag. Under UAE law, offences committed aboard such an aircraft can be investigated by Emirati authorities even when they occur outside the country’s territory. Saudi authorities conducted their preliminary inquiry in coordination with the UAE security team.

Saudi Arabia’s National Transport Safety Center has separately opened a safety investigation into the emergency landing. That inquiry is distinct from the criminal investigation and is expected to focus on the aviation circumstances surrounding the diversion and landing.

Captain Smit Machchhar, identified by India’s authorities, was receiving treatment in Abu Dhabi after being moved from Saudi Arabia. During a video conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi from hospital, Machchhar described struggling to open the cockpit door after being attacked, enabling people outside the flight deck to intervene. He said his overriding concern was preventing loss of life.

Accounts from passengers and officials indicate that people aboard the aircraft helped restrain the co-pilot after the cockpit door was opened, while other qualified crew members took control. Flight-tracking data showed the aircraft transmitted the emergency code 7700 and, for a period, code 7500, which denotes unlawful interference, before returning to the general emergency code.

The precise motive remains unconfirmed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has alleged that the co-pilot was an Omani national who had undergone Islamist radicalisation and was suicidal. Neither the UAE authorities nor flydubai has publicly confirmed the co-pilot’s nationality or endorsed that explanation, and UAE prosecutors are examining several possible motives.

Netanyahu has also said it was too early to determine the motive conclusively. UAE authorities have specifically asked the public to avoid speculation and rely on official information while evidence is collected and verified.

Questions also remain over how the cockpit confrontation began and whether any weapon was involved. Passenger accounts have described a stabbing, but the Saudi Interior Ministry’s preliminary statement confined its finding to an assault by the co-pilot and did not publicly specify a weapon.

The transfer followed treatment at a hospital after the landing. Saudi officials said emergency agencies handled the aircraft and its occupants under established aviation procedures, while the captain and co-pilot remained behind for medical evaluation as passengers and other crew departed Tabuk.