Machchhar recounts attack Netanyahu offers torch honor

Sep 30

In the complete available public release of their English-language call, Benjamin Netanyahu asks recovering Flydubai Captain Smit Machchhar to describe the cockpit attack. Machchhar says the co-pilot asked to pray, which he regarded as ordinary, and struck the back of his head several minutes later. Repeated blows impaired his vision; he sensed the aircraft descending and cautions that his memory remains fragmentary. He recalls opening the cockpit door once and thinks the attacker closed it again. Lying on the floor and hearing screams, he made a final effort to open it, allowing people waiting outside to intervene and regain control. Asked whether he pulled a pin, he says there was no pin: he reached and twisted the interior knob, while the attacker had prevented colleagues using the outside access code from opening the door. Netanyahu praises the captain and the other rescuers, wishes him recovery, and invites him and Narendra Modi to light a celebratory flame at Israel's next Independence Day. Machchhar credits the dentist who treated him with saving his life. Ambassador Yossi Shelley says he has invited the captain and his family to Netanyahu's office; Netanyahu reiterates the flame invitation, calls it an honor usually reserved for Israeli citizens and anticipates a future visit. The release records the invitation and recovery wishes, with no completed ceremony or finding about the attacker's motive.

On September 30 Dubai–Tel Aviv Flydubai 1073 descends sharply and signals an emergency. The airline confirms a cockpit altercation; passengers subdue an attacker and extra crew land in Saudi Arabia. Netanyahu alleges stabbing/crash intent and Katz jihadism; Steckelbach leaves identity, motive and screening uncertain. Flydubai suspends Israel flights. ABC's September 30 field account gives 174 passengers/four Americans, cockpit footage, witnesses, an attributed first-officer attack/dive, passenger/additional-pilot rescue, Saudi care, Tel Aviv arrival and detention; Trump's terrorist-or-other-motive theory is qualified. ARD gives about 180 people. TV Brasil reports about 150 Israelis, Flightradar24's over-4,000-metre/30-second descent and two injured men; its terrorism label is Israel's and Israelis are not the total. France 2 reports 10,360-to-4,190 metres in six minutes, tail damage and two off-duty rescue pilots, with entry unexplained, nationality from Israeli press and an unconfirmed axe hypothesis. RTVE gives over five kilometres in under two minutes, Netanyahu's 166 Israelis, mother/daughter testimony and detention/open inquiry. TSN gives Abu Dhabi as origin, 174 passengers in the main item and about 200 people in recap, an Omani co-pilot attacking an Emirati captain, a 4,000-metre fall from 7,000 in under thirty seconds, intervention, reserve-crew landing in Tabuk, a seriously injured captain and detention. Its preview, terrorism/suicide suggestion and uncertain recap motive remain distinct. Vremya says an initial Russian–Ukrainian cockpit-fight rumour gave way to an Omani-attacker account, then cites Israel Hayom for an unofficial Russian/Ukrainian off-duty rescue-pilot account; identities/crew roles stay qualified. IRINN's September 30 account gives about 170 passengers and witness/Israeli-outlet Omani/Emirati identities and Tabuk/onward travel. Olleik alleges a nationality agreement and pilots posing as passengers; al-Deirani alleges a Netanyahu charade. Netanyahu's reply and Lieberman/Lapid's political-exploitation criticisms remain alongside these disputed interpretations. His UAE visit was two days earlier. DD India on October 1 names Smit Machchhar, reports a 14,000-foot descent, door opening, rescue and official/local praise. Radicalization is Netanyahu's claim; one package puts transfer in Abu Dhabi but later treatment in Saudi Arabia. Experts discuss vetting, weapons, motives, recruitment and remote-control risks pending findings; cameras are proposed. ABC airs cabin footage and dentist Shota Musaev's firsthand aid, fear of imminent death and the suspect's request to be killed. Its account gives 174 passengers/eight crew, an unlocked door, Netanyahu's radicalization/suicide claim, an unnamed official's unexplained online-post allegation and Trump's qualified Iran suspicion. Fox's October 1 Schlichter/Netanyahu clips credit captain-led door opening and report captain/suspect UAE transfer. Its White House report contrasts Trump's Iran belief with Netanyahu's caution; Ailam's Iran-inspired lone-wolf view remains interpretation. France 2 airs Yaniv Hayun removing the attacker and raising the aircraft, dentist/business-owner praise and a 2025 Machchhar interview; it says the captain is out of danger while the inquiry begins. Kan adds Ohayon's cabin recordings and four rescuers' intervention, recovery and aid. Cohen cites officials finding no organizational/Iranian link yet without excluding Iran. Blumental places the conscious captain after UAE transfer; Alkaly later puts him in Saudi Arabia. Trump's qualified remarks, viral reaction and honors discussion prove no motive, Iranian role or awarded honor. ABC's October 2 report cites intelligence/law-enforcement sources for an unnamed Omani trainee's 2024 Oman Air suspension over extremist materials, administrative work and later Flydubai hiring. Israel crash intent and investigator cooperation are allegations. From hospital, Machchhar tells Modi he sensed the plunge wounded, forced the door open and credits others equally. Netanyahu alleges radicalization and threatens whoever sent the attacker; officials say Israel will join the UAE inquiry. DD/PMO retain door opening, equal credit, Saudi care and spiritual reassurance, leaving hospital/motive uncertain. PMO adds continued beating, 17 years flying/11 as captain and gradual-recovery confidence. Fox puts him in Abu Dhabi, reports rescue/suspect transfer, attributes an Oman ban to familiar sources and crash intent/radicalization to Netanyahu. Vremya's October 1 report airs Hayon's control recovery and Musaev's aid. Yaroshenko disputes amateur recovery; Yemelyanov questions coincidences and displaced rumours. Fars/Iranian-security sources allege an Israeli plan to blame Iran for aviation attacks. Netanyahu alleges Iranian pre-election threats but does not know whether this flight was part of them. Tsipis/Yemelyanov question credibility and incentives; the correspondent cannot establish the scenario. IRINN's October 2 opening/social-media package alleges political staging, citing an official's reported lack of an apparent Iran link and a Times of Israel campaign-ad characterization. Hinkle's false-flag claim, Murphy's incredulity, Kanani's accusation, anonymous flight objections and Rabbi Jeff parody remain suspicions/satire, not proof, alongside other broadcasters' emergency/open inquiry. ABC's October 4 account names Hamam Al Hammami and cites sources for Tel Aviv crash intent, an Oman security flag and 2024 trainee suspension. Machchhar recalls opening the door badly wounded; Opher Dubrovsky urges tighter screening. Royal Air Maroc denies hiring him after three months' training last year; Flydubai declines comment. In the complete October 3 Netanyahu call, Machchhar says the co-pilot's prayer request seemed ordinary before repeated blows impaired vision. With fragmentary memory he recalls the descent, opening the door, possible reclosing by the attacker and reaching the interior knob to admit colleagues. He corrects Netanyahu's pin suggestion: he twisted the knob after outside-code attempts were blocked. He credits the dentist with saving his life. Motive remains unestablished. ARD's October 3 brief attributes seizure intent to the UAE inquiry and an Oman ban to US media. On October 5 Haq awaits facts, declines Arora's bomb speculation and opposes civilian-aircraft misuse/terrorism. ABC's October 5 report identifies 29-year-old al-Hammami through Israeli sources and a deleted-LinkedIn image; those sources allege an aborted July Tel Aviv-flight crash plan, for an unknown reason, and intended September 30 Ben Gurion target. It recalls door opening and asks about recruitment after an earlier ban. Fox's MacCallum attributes radical indoctrination/Ben Gurion crash intent to UAE investigators and mentions a US Jordan air base as another possible target. She credits rescuers with averting airborne/ground deaths; El-Sayed thanks them and condemns terrorism. Sponsor, motive, plans and targets remain attributed and unresolved. In his complete October 1 Fox & Friends interview Netanyahu corrects certainty to likely crash intent and refuses final conclusions. He lacks pre-restraint words or a religious-slogan account; weapon, radicalization source, Iran link and Omani cooperation remain unresolved. He praises restraint, aid, teamwork and off-duty pilots' landing. Kan's October 4 follow-up airs the struck-while-praying recollection, attributes fuel-switch intervention/16,000-foot descent to Corriere della Sera and gives a January 2026 hire. Its initial last-year Oman dismissal differs from its later 2024 suspension. It examines a classified 2024 audit, screening and reportedly unused Tax Authority access, and reports an NSC review. Regev assigns intelligence responsibility elsewhere; Weinberg holds Transport responsible; Riklin says it lacks intelligence tools. Eisenkot seeks an external inquiry and Regev's removal, reserving other agencies' responsibility for investigation and proposing suspension only of routes with uncertain pilot identities. Kan on October 5 alleges failed MAMALAT vetting and Rubinstein's regulatory/private-training conflicts, with no response from him or the ministry. Cohen reports an ongoing UAE inquiry, Israeli updates and a team there. Guttman relays anonymous crash-intent/lone-wolf claims, calling Trump's initial Iran view unfounded; Vance has seen nothing conclusive and is reviewing U.S. screening. CBS rescuers describe intervention, another pilot's recovery and mutual lifesaving acts. Competing employment, location, descent, crew and institutional claims remain attributed and unresolved. After a Netanyahu call, Trump's full September 30 Oval Office account recounts captain-led door opening, an Israeli plumber leveling the plane and later pilot help. He says he does not know if it is true or if a crash was intended. Kan on October 6 reports black-box decoding, crew-name/nationality lists and 1,200 yearly arrivals by crews from countries without relations. Blumental alleges unchecked lists; Kais attributes normalization/air-link disruption to the attempt but expects UAE ties to survive. CCTV's October 6 reports attribute an Israeli shoot-down contingency to CBS/Israeli sources and an alleged Gaza-revenge confession to October 5 Israeli media. They describe an October 4 Mossad briefing, itinerary/phone inquiries and UAE questioning said to exclude other crew involvement, explicitly without official Israeli/UAE confirmation. CCTV on October 10 recounts Al Shamsi's October 9 preliminary airport-terminal suicide-attack finding and the suspect's claim to have acted alone. Prosecutors still investigate accomplices/connections and review flight records, technical reports and evidence. This later announcement is separately indexed from the September 30 incident and October 1/3 statements. Earlier sponsorship conjecture and competing accounts remain attributed.