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    "original_url": "https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/09\/30\/world\/middleeast\/israel-plane-flydubai-passenger-eyewitness-account.html?emc=edit_nn_20261001&nl=the-morning&segment_id=227346",
    "parsed_content": "Cockpit Attack on Flight to IsraelliveUpdatesOct. 1, 2026, 10:36 a.m. ET22m agoWhat to KnowPilot Hailed as HeroVideo: Passenger\u00a0AccountsFlyDubai and IsraelAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTSupported bySKIP ADVERTISEMENTA FlyDubai Passenger Details All-Out Effort to Restrain Attacking PilotA passenger on a flight to Tel Aviv on Wednesday said he watched in horror as the plane\u2019s pilots tumbled out of the cockpit, locked in a bloody brawl.Listen \u00b7 3:41 min Share full articlePassengers of the FlyDubai flight walking out of the terminal at Ben Gurion Airport in Tzafria, Israel, on Wednesday.Credit...Erik Marmor\/Getty ImagesBy Pranav BaskarSept. 30, 2026See more of our coverage in your search results.Encuentra m\u00e1s de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de b\u00fasqueda. Add The New York Times on GoogleAgrega The New York Times en Google Tzvika Manes, a passenger seated in the front row of FlyDubai Flight 1073 to Tel Aviv on Wednesday, said he heard bloodcurdling screams from the cockpit as the aircraft plunged toward the Saudi desert.In an interview with The New York Times on Wednesday, Mr. Manes recounted leaping from his seat to retrieve his 6-year-old daughter from the bathroom. The cockpit door was partly open. A pilot, bloodied with stab wounds, had lurched out and was locked in a melee with the plane\u2019s other pilot, he said.Mr. Manes said he was one of three passengers who subdued the aggressive pilot in a midair struggle, narrowly averting catastrophe. He gave a harrowing account of what happened inside the cockpit, as they wrestled the pilot pressing the attack and landed the plane, in a brief telephone interview.The compartment itself was disheveled, spattered with blood, he said. The pilot who was attacked \u2014 who Mr. Manes said appeared to be Indian \u2014 was so badly injured that Mr. Manes said he was amazed that the man had managed to escape from the pilots\u2019 compartment.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\u201cThe Indian pilot was struggling \u2014 he managed to open the door to get help to save himself,\u201d said Mr. Manes, who added that the bleeding pilot fell out of the cockpit as the other pilot was on top of him, stabbing him.Then, Mr. Manes said, he and two other passengers \u201cjumped on\u201d the armed pilot and grappled with him to stop the attack. They used the cables from the flight\u2019s headphone sets to tie up the pilot and restrain him, Mr. Manes said.Meanwhile, passengers on the flight shrieked in terror as the plane quickly lost altitude, with people \u201cflying out of their seats,\u201d before the plane stabilized, Mr. Manes said. He described the scene as traumatic and like a \u201chorror movie.\u201dAfter the pilot was restrained, other passengers on the flight with flying experience took control of the aircraft and landed it, Mr. Manes said.The plane arrived in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where passengers disembarked, some of them in bloodstained clothing. They waited for a replacement aircraft sent by FlyDubai to continue to Tel Aviv. By Wednesday night, all the passengers had arrived safely in Israel.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTIsraeli officials said on Wednesday that much about the flight remained unclear, including what motivated the attacking pilot and whether it was specifically an attack on Israelis, as many people in Israel \u2014 including some in the government \u2014 quickly concluded. The country has been increasingly isolated over the wars in Gaza and Iran and antisemitic attacks are on the rise.A FlyDubai spokesperson urged all parties \u201cto refrain from premature speculation while authorities gather the facts.\u201d The airline later said it was suspending all flights to and from Israel pending an investigation into the episode.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel would later identify the pilot who was stabbed as Capt. Smit Machchhar, an Indian citizen. \u201cDespite being stabbed and seriously injured, he fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker \u2014 preventing a catastrophic midair disaster,\u201d Mr. Netanyahu said.The Indian Embassy in Riyadh confirmed the pilot\u2019s identity and said in a statement that he was in a hospital in Tabuk in stable condition.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT",
    "published_at": "2026-10-01T00:15:52+00:00",
    "author_name": "Pranav Baskar",
    "site_name": "The New York Times",
    "section": "World",
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    "ai_headline": "Cockpit Attack on Flight to Israel",
    "ai_simplified_title": "Passenger Details Mid-Air Cockpit Brawl on FlyDubai Flight to Israel",
    "ai_excerpt": "A passenger on a FlyDubai flight to Tel Aviv recounts a harrowing mid-air struggle as two pilots brawled in the cockpit. Passengers intervened to restrain the attacking pilot and land the plane, averting catastrophe.",
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