How hero Kenyan cabin crew stepped in during Flydubai mid-air emergency
Flydubai passengers react and check after realising there is commotion in the cockpit.
Photo credit: Reuters
Correspondent
Nation Media Group
What you need to know:
- A flight bound for Israel from the United Arab Emirates diverted to Saudi Arabia after transmitting emergency signals following a fight between the pilots.
Two Kenyan cabin crew members found themselves at the heart of a terrifying mid-air emergency after a Flydubai captain was seriously injured during a confrontation on board.
As panic spread through the aircraft, the two flight attendants, identified by American news outlet CNN as David Kimotho and John Muchina, rushed to the aid of the wounded pilot, checking his condition and helping to keep him safe as crew and passengers battled to bring the unfolding crisis under control.
As Flight FZ1073 descended into crisis, the two Kenyan crew members became calm voices amid the chaos, rushing to the injured captain's aid, keeping passengers orderly and issuing clear instructions as the emergency unfolded.
In a clip shared on social media after the incident, their voices can be heard speaking in Swahili as they checked whether the injured captain was conscious and tried to position him safely.
One attendant is heard saying, "Cheki kama anaongea, umwongeleshe" which means, "Check if he's talking; talk to him." Another says, "Mweke huku chini" ( Put him down here).
The available footage specifically documents them checking whether the captain was conscious and helping to position him.
Their actions came as the aircraft was in a steep descent, turning an already frightening situation into a race against time.
While passengers and other crew members helped restrain the attacker and efforts were made to regain control of the aircraft, the two Kenyans remained focused on the injured captain. A doctor travelling on the flight also stepped in to provide medical assistance.
The Flydubai flight, carrying more than 170 passengers, had plunged into chaos thousands of feet above the ground after the captain was attacked by his knife-wielding co-pilot, forcing passengers and crew into a desperate struggle to keep the aircraft in the air.
Captain Smit Machchhar, bleeding heavily from his injuries, managed to open the cockpit door and raise the alarm.
Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, who the leaders of Israel and India hailed as a hero for saving passengers after he was stabbed by his colleague in an alleged attempt to crash a flydubai plane on Wednesday, smiles in an unidentified location in this undated handout image released on September 30, 2026.
Photo credit: REUTERS
What followed was a frantic fight for control.
Passengers stormed the cockpit and overpowered the co-pilot. One passenger then steadied the aircraft, saying he had drawn on lessons picked up from watching an air-crash television programme.
Two off-duty Flydubai pilots travelling on the aircraft later took over the controls and guided the Boeing 737 to an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, according to witnesses and Israeli officials.
The captain and co-pilot were both injured, Saudi officials said. Videos from inside the cabin, verified by Reuters, showed the wounded captain and co-pilot, blood smeared across the cockpit walls, and passengers restraining the co-pilot.
The passenger who briefly took control said he first helped pull the co-pilot away from the controls. Two other passengers then subdued him and tied him up using earphone cables.
The aircraft had left Dubai with more than 170 passengers and crew, most of them Israeli. Flight data showed it plunged more than 16,000 feet in just over 30 seconds during the most dramatic phase of the incident.
The crew then issued distress signals indicating an emergency and unlawful interference before the aircraft changed course over Jordanian airspace and diverted to Saudi Arabia.
An Israeli official said the aircraft's transponder was switched off for nearly half an hour.
Flydubai said a full investigation was under way.
As passengers grappled with an injured pilot and a subdued co-pilot, the two Kenyans were among those responding to the emergency, helping to contain the chaos as the aircraft headed for an emergency landing.
For them, the flight was no longer simply a journey from Dubai.
It was a race against time at 36,000 feet.
The aircraft eventually made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, bringing an extraordinary ordeal to an end.
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