Flydubai flight 1073 dropped from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet in about a minute on Wednesday after the co-pilot stabbed the captain, Israeli officials said.
The big picture: The distress call came about two and a half hours after takeoff from Dubai, at roughly 8:44 local time, with the two pilots fighting as the aircraft swiftly lost altitude.
- Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, managed to open the cockpit door despite his wounds, letting passengers and crew in to overpower the co-pilot.
- Netanyahu called Machchhar "a true hero" for preventing "a catastrophic midair disaster." The remaining crew landed the plane in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia about an hour later.
Yes, but: Motive stays unsettled. Netanyahu said it is too early to say whether the attack was targeted, and UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi ordered a probe into any link to terrorist activity.
Why it matters: Flydubai's safety oversight sits with the UAE civil aviation authority, whose Class 1 medical check covers mental health. Analyst Saj Ahmad calls such vetting a single snapshot in time.
