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Identities of pilots who landed hijacked FlyDubai plane after attack on Captain Smit Machchhar revealed

Read the original at The Independent ↗
Cite

Sarkar, A. R. (2026, November 1). Identities of pilots who landed hijacked FlyDubai plane after attack on Captain Smit Machchhar revealed. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/flydubai-pilots-hijack-smit-machchhar-b3077047.html

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Independent · collected 2026-11-01 · by Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Quick Summary

Two off-duty pilots, Henson Steven from Fiji and Rowan Tooth from South Africa, safely landed FlyDubai Flight 1073 after an attack on Captain Smit Machchhar by his co-pilot with a crash axe during a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30. The aircraft was in Saudi airspace when the incident occurred; Steven and Tooth were onboard for their return flights. UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan awarded all involved, including the off-duty pilots and Captain Machchhar, who sustained serious injuries but is recovering, with the First Class Order of Zayed II.
Written by AI on 2026-11-01, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On October 27, 2026, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan honored Indian Captain Smit Machchhar and the flydubai crew members with the First Class Order of Zayed II for their bravery during a mid-air attack on September 30 aboard flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv. During the incident, Machchhar was severely injured by his co-pilot, an Omani national identified as Hamam al-Hammami, who used a crash axe and caused the plane to plummet nearly 14,000 feet in under 30 seconds. Despite being critically wounded, Machchhar managed to regain control with assistance from fellow crew members, preventing what some considered a potential terrorist attack on Israel. The aircraft safely landed in Saudi Arabia after two off-duty pilots, Henson Steven from Fiji and Rowan Tooth from South Africa, took over the controls.

Written for “FlyDubai Pilots Honoured For Bravery” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 3 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 FlyDubai Pilots Honoured For Bravery
Politics · 4 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 6% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Independent
Hedges 1 of 20 claims Outlet record 59/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
17
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
6%
1 of 17 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
59/100
The Independent's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
4
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-01 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Independent · 3494 article(s) · 8 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 8 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
32 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Also by Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 32 articles by Alisha Rahaman Sarkar →

Topics

1073 FlyDubai Israeli Saudi Arabia UAE

Subjects

Machchhar PERSON · 4× UAE GPE · 4× FlyDubai ORG · 2× Israeli NORP · 2× Saudi Arabia GPE · 2× Tooth PERSON · 2× Dubai GPE · 1× Henson Steven PERSON · 1× Smit Machchhar PERSON · 1× Tel Aviv GPE · 1×

Narrative

The Boeing 737 aircraft with around 150 Israeli passengers on board was in Saudi airspace when the co-pilot attacked Machchhar with a crash axe, typically kept in the cockpit for emergency use. UAE public prosecutors have said the plan was inspired by the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-01
🔮 Wearing a sling and with stitches in the back of his head, he told the UAE president that it would still be another two months before he heals fully.

Claims (17 extracted, 1 hedged)

The identities of two off-duty pilots who landed a FlyDubai aircraft after the captain was attacked during a hijack attempt have been revealed. asserted
captain → land → attempt
FlyDubai Flight 1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv plunged 16,000ft in 30 seconds on 30 September before the attacker was overwhelmed and two other pilots who were on board were able to safely land in Saudi Arabia. asserted
who → plunge → Arabia
Captain Smit Machchhar was attacked by his co-pilot with an axe in the cockpit of the flight, before the suspect was overwhelmed by passengers. Henson Steven from Fiji and South Africa's Rowan Tooth jumped in to take control of the aircraft and landed the plane safely in Saudi Arabia. asserted
Steven → attack → Arabia
UAE president Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan last week awarded Mr Steven, Mr Tooth and the rest of the crew the First Class Order of Zayed II “in recognition of their courageous efforts to ensure the safety of passengers". asserted
Nahyan → award → passengers
Both the off-duty pilots were on board to pilot the aircraft for its return flight, according to Times of Israel. uncertain
pilots → pilot → Israel
Mr Steven previously worked as a pilot for Fiji Airways, while Mr Tooth worked for South African airline Airlink until 2023. asserted
Tooth → work → 2023
Captain Machchhar, who sustained life-threatening injuries, was also presented with the First Class Order of Zayed II award – one of the highest civilian awards in the UAE. asserted
who → sustain → UAE
Wearing a sling and with stitches in the back of his head, he told the UAE president that it would still be another two months before he heals fully. asserted
he → wear → president
When you heal, I want to have a session with you to train you how to fight,” the Emirati president told him, suggesting he would benefit from learning jiu-jitsu. asserted
he → heal → jitsu
“It’s my biggest honour,” replied the captain. asserted
captain → ’ → ?
The Boeing 737 aircraft with around 150 Israeli passengers on board was in Saudi airspace when the co-pilot attacked Machchhar with a crash axe, typically kept in the cockpit for emergency use. UAE public prosecutors have said the plan was inspired by the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. asserted
plan → attack → States
Speaking from a hospital bed in Abu Dhabi earlier this month, Captain Machchhar said that when the first blow landed, he thought something had gone “horribly wrong the aircraft structure”, before quickly realising he was being attacked. asserted
he → speak → Dhabi
Captain Machchhar was covered with blood and on the floor when he managed to open the cockpit door, a spokesperson for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. asserted
spokesperson → cover → Netanyahu
Yaniv Hayun, one of the men who incapacitated the attacker, described running to the cockpit as the plane nosedived. asserted
plane → incapacitate → cockpit
“We pulled the assailant out, I pulled him out. asserted
I → pull → him
After I pulled him out we took control of the plane, I pulled up the yoke (steering control of the plane), I straightened the plane out a bit,” he said. asserted
he → pull → plane
Mr Netanyahu earlier said that the co-pilot, whom he identified as an Omani national, had undergone radical Islamist indoctrination but that so far a motive for his actions had not been established. asserted
motive → say → actions
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