Pill, Restraint, All-Male Cabin Crew: flydubai Case Takes New Turn

Two more flydubai pilots have been arrested in Dubai on suspicion of planning a terror attack, and both are said to have flown to Israel in the past. The arrests suggest the airline's cockpit scare may reach well beyond one co-pilot.

Police took the two men into custody last Saturday. Both are employees of flydubai. Adhadhu, a Maldivian news outlet, reported that the Maldivian Embassy in the UAE has now told their families that the pilots are being held.

As per the reports, they are the most recent recruits among the six Maldivian pilots currently at flydubai. Reports say they had worked alongside Hamam al-Hammami, the Omani co-pilot accused of trying to crash a plane on 30 September.

There has been no official announcement of the arrest by the President's Office Spokesperson, Mohamed Hussain Shareef, or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson. The two pilots have not been publicly charged.

The accusations against Al-Hammami relate to flydubai flight FZ1073, which was heading from Dubai to Tel Aviv. He attacked the captain, Smit Machchhar, with an axe and tried to take control of the aircraft. flydubai itself described the event as an "altercation" on the flight deck.

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Machchhar, an Indian national, reportedly managed to fend off the assault and open the cockpit door. An Israeli passenger is then said to have entered the cockpit and helped secure the aircraft. The airline said the plane was diverted and landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Captain Machchhar has more than 13 years of flying experience on Boeing 737 aircraft and has been with flydubai since 2022. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "Captain Smit Machchhar is a HERO". Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called him a "true hero" who saved 174 lives. India's embassy in the UAE later said he was recovering well in a hospital there, and the Indian ambassador met his family.

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According to a testimony from a passenger named Assaf, crew members tried to loosen the accused man's restraints and stopped passengers from filming. He also said they tried to put a mysterious pill into the mouth of the wounded Indian captain.

His testimony further claims the flight had been arranged to be staffed only by male flight attendants. That has led to the suggestion that the accused may have had people inside the crew ready to help him.

These claims come from one passenger's account and have not been confirmed by the authorities.

The alleged aim, according to the reports, was to crash the plane at Ben Gurion Airport.