'Plumber' helped save plunging Flydubai plane after co-pilot attacked captain: Trump

• Trump says he spoke with Netanyahu about Flydubai cockpit attack.
• Reuters says passengers and crew overpowered co-pilot.
• Second pair of Flydubai pilots land aircraft safely.

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he spoke at length with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the dramatic incident aboard a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, saying the co-pilot may have been a terrorist and recounting an account in which an Israeli plumber helped prevent the aircraft from crashing.

Trump said he had heard the account from Netanyahu and others but cautioned that he could not independently confirm it.

"This is the story that I heard - I don't know if it's true, but that's the story that I got from Bibi (Netanyahu)," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

According to Trump, the co-pilot was "perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack-job" and had stabbed the pilot before the aircraft began plunging.

Trump said an Israeli passenger described as a plumber helped subdue the attacker and, despite having no flying experience, helped pull the aircraft out of its dive.

Reuters reported that passengers and crew entered the cockpit and overpowered the co-pilot after the attack, enabling a second pair of Flydubai pilots who were aboard the flight to land the aircraft safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. The aircraft had dropped nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds, according to flight-tracking data cited by Reuters.

The flight, FZ1073, was carrying 174 people, most of them Israeli nationals, when the incident occurred while it was travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv.

Israeli officials said the co-pilot stabbed the captain, identified by Netanyahu's office as Indian national Smit Machchhar, before the aircraft rapidly descended. Machchhar, who was injured, managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to intervene, according to a Netanyahu spokesperson cited by Reuters.

Passengers described a frantic struggle in the cockpit as they attempted to restrain the attacker. Israeli officials praised those who intervened, while Netanyahu later met passengers who helped stop the assault after they arrived in Israel.

The co-pilot was taken into Saudi custody after the aircraft made an emergency landing in Tabuk. His motive remained under investigation, while Flydubai said the reasons behind the incident were not yet known and urged against premature speculation. An Israeli official identified the co-pilot as an Omani national.

The incident has prompted Israel to announce tighter security checks on pilots flying into the country. A spokesperson for Netanyahu said authorities would seek to establish the identity of every pilot flying into Israel and carry out security checks.

The episode also created an unusual diplomatic complication after Saudi Arabia turned down an Israeli request to send military aircraft to retrieve the Israeli passengers from Tabuk. Two security sources told Reuters that Israel had been preparing to send Super Hercules aircraft, but Saudi Arabia, which has no diplomatic relations with Israel, rejected the request. The passengers instead continued their journey aboard a Flydubai aircraft.

The incident comes amid heightened security concerns in Israel and weeks before the country's elections. It also highlights the close aviation links that have developed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates since the two countries established diplomatic relations under the US-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020. Flydubai operates daily flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv.

The UAE government had not immediately commented on the incident, while Flydubai described it as an "altercation" in the cockpit and said the aircraft subsequently diverted safely to Tabuk. The UAE's aviation regulator said the flight had experienced a security incident that was brought under control.