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'Is there a doctor? We need a pilot!' New footage from hijacked plane shows panic as passengers realise nobody is flying the plane while fighting to save hero captain

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Cite

Garfinkel, I. (2026, October 2). 'Is there a doctor? We need a pilot!' New footage from hijacked plane shows panic as passengers realise nobody is flying the plane while fighting to save hero captain. Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16177801/Is-doctor-need-pilot-New-footage-hijacked-plane-shows-panic-passengers-realise-flying-plane-fighting-save-hero-captain.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Daily Mail · collected 2026-10-02 · by Imogen Garfinkel
Content note This article describes suicide or self-harm.

Quick Summary

New footage from a hijacked FlyDubai flight shows passengers panicking when they realize no one is flying the plane after the captain was attacked by the copilot mid-flight. Passengers shout for help and attempt to stabilize the situation as Dr. Shota Musaev, an Israeli dentist, rushes to assist in the cockpit. The aircraft eventually lands safely in Saudi Arabia with the help of passengers who subdued the attacker and allowed relief pilots on board to take control.
Written by AI on 2026-10-02, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On September 30, 2026, a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv signaled an emergency and was diverted to land at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia. The incident initially raised concerns about a possible hijacking, prompting Israel to scramble warplanes. However, Israeli officials later reported that the emergency signals were due to a physical altercation between the plane's two pilots rather than a hijacking attempt.

The flight, identified as Flydubai Flight FZ1073, transmitted multiple emergency alerts after takeoff and over Jordanian airspace before landing safely in Saudi Arabia. Passengers on board managed to overpower the attacker, who was later identified by UAE officials as Omani co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami. Al-Hammami allegedly attempted to crash the plane into Tel Aviv's airport but was stopped by passengers.

UAE Attorney-General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi stated that signs of al-Hammami’s radicalization first emerged in 2017 while he was studying engineering at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. He reportedly became influenced by extremist literature and online content glorifying terrorist organizations during this period.

Written for “Flydubai Hijacker's Radicalization Path” on 2026-11-02, grounded in this article and the 345 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Flydubai Hijacker's Radicalization Path
Crime & Law · 346 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 3% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
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Hedges 2 of 28 claims Outlet record 59/100
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Hedges 2 of 22 claims Outlet record 59/100
New York Post
Hedges 1 of 28 claims Outlet record 66/100
National Post
Hedges 3 of 57 claims Outlet record 60/100
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 6 of 47 claims Outlet record 61/100
Times of India
Hedges 2 of 43 claims Outlet record 59/100
CBS News
Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 66/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 15 claims Outlet record 64/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
75
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
3%
2 of 75 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
69/100
Daily Mail's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
346
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-02 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Daily Mail · 8837 article(s) · 22 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 22 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Imogen Garfinkel
47 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Also by Imogen Garfinkel
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 47 articles by Imogen Garfinkel →

Topics

FlyDubai Indian Israeli Omani Saudi Arabia

Subjects

Israeli NORP · 7× FlyDubai ORG · 3× Omani NORP · 3× Indian NORP · 2× Nina Manes PERSON · 2× Saudi Arabia GPE · 2× Tali PERSON · 2× Dubai GPE · 1× Smit Machchhar PERSON · 1× Tel Aviv GPE · 1×

Narrative

Six-year-old Nina Manes along with her mother Tali had gone to the bathroom just before the copilot stabbed the captain in an attempt to take control of the aircraft Graphic footage filmed by passengers on the flight shows the wounded pilot Smit Machchhar lying on the floor as others tend to him New footage has since emerged of the bloodied knifeman sat on the floor of the plane as his head is bowed and hands are tied - while Mr Machchhar is stretchered out. One of the heroic passengers on board was Georgian Jewish dentist, Dr Musaev.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-02
🔮 Asked what moment will stay with him, Mr Musaev sobbed: 'Probably when I told my wife I was going to help and effectively said goodbye to her.'

Claims (75 extracted, 2 hedged)

New footage from the hijacked FlyDubai plane shows the moment panicked passengers realised that nobody was flying the aircraft. asserted
nobody → hijack → aircraft
In the video clip shared by Israeli media, which was filmed from a seat near the cockpit, one person says 'he tried to crash the plane,' in reference to the Omani copilot who stabbed the plane’s Indian captain. asserted
who → share → captain
Wednesday's flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv erupted into bloodshed at 34,000ft, after captain Smit Machchhar was knifed by his copilot as he fought to protect the jet's controls – as well as the lives of 174 passengers on board. asserted
he → erupt → board
We need a pilot!' asserted
We → need → pilot
people can be heard shouting in the dramatic footage, with the anxious cries of fellow passengers audible in the background. asserted
cries → hear → background
Others yell 'take him out' in the direction of the cockpit, and order passengers in the cabin to 'sit down' amid the chaotic situation. asserted
Others → yell → situation
In the clip, Dr. Shota Musaev, an Israeli dentist, can be seen rushing to the front of the plane to provide medical treatment. asserted
Musaev → see → treatment
As the shouts of 'sit down' persist, a man asks in Hebrew whether there is an additional pilot on the flight, to which someone responds affirmatively. asserted
someone → sit → which
The aircraft went into a nosedive before Yaniv Hayun, a plumber who helped storm the cockpit to subdue the copilot, stabilised it, allowing a second pair of FlyDubai pilots onboard to take control of the plane and land it in Saudi Arabia. asserted
pair → go → Arabia
New footage from the hijacked FlyDubai plane shows the moment panicked passengers realise nobody is flying the aircraft In the video clip shared by Israeli media, which was filmed from a seat near the cockpit, one person says 'he tried to crash the plane,' in reference to the Omani copilot who stabbed the plane’s Indian captain In the clip, Dr. Shota Musayev, an Israeli dentist, can be seen rushing to the front of the plane to provide medical treatment Mr Machchhar was 'stabbed' or 'hit with an axe', according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who later also said the captain was 'stabbed in the head' and his arm was 'split in two'. According to Flightradar24, the Boeing 737 plunged by 14,125 feet in just 29 seconds around the time of the scuffle. uncertain
Boeing → hijack → scuffle
A 9/11-style disaster was averted by the injured captain, who managed to open the cockpit door enough to allow fellow passengers and the two relief pilots to enter and take control of the aircraft. asserted
passengers → avert → aircraft
The Omani co-pilot was last night being interrogated in Saudi Arabia - where the plane made an emergency landing at Tabuk Regional Airport following the midair stabbing incident. asserted
plane → interrogate → incident
An Israeli official said: 'His social media accounts say clearly that he has been radicalised into jihadist ideology. asserted
he → say → ideology
He talks about killing Jews. asserted
He → talk → Jews
'We can't say for sure but it seems like he was a suicide actor who was probably going to try to down that plane.' asserted
who → say → plane
A heroic six-year-old girl and her mother played a crucial role in preventing the attempted hijacking, it has been revealed. asserted
it → play → hijacking
Nina Manes along with her mother, Tali, had gone to the bathroom just before the copilot stabbed the captain in an attempt to take control of the aircraft. asserted
copilot → go → aircraft
The girl then heard suspicious noises emerging from the cockpit. asserted
girl → hear → cockpit
'There was blood all over the cockpit and very, very sharp fighting moves,' she told the Israeli Channel 12. asserted
she → be → Channel
'I screamed: "He is stabbing the pilot, he is stabbing the pilot, come help!" asserted
he → scream → pilot
People looked at me and didn’t understand. asserted
People → look → me
' The plane then 'entered a tailspin and began to dive'. asserted
plane → enter → tailspin
This is when Nina’s father, Tzvika, hurried to grab his daughter from the bathroom. asserted
father → hurry → bathroom
He said: 'The shrieks of my daughters when the plane nosedived [are still with me]. asserted
plane → say → me
' 'Dad, we don't want to die,' he heard his wife and daughter screaming. asserted
wife → want → ?
Their cries 'were the triggers that caused me to run inside the cockpit,' he said. asserted
he → cause → cockpit
He and two other passengers then rushed into the cockpit to neutralise the attacker. asserted
He → rush → attacker
Six-year-old Nina Manes along with her mother Tali had gone to the bathroom just before the copilot stabbed the captain in an attempt to take control of the aircraft Graphic footage filmed by passengers on the flight shows the wounded pilot Smit Machchhar lying on the floor as others tend to him New footage has since emerged of the bloodied knifeman sat on the floor of the plane as his head is bowed and hands are tied - while Mr Machchhar is stretchered out. One of the heroic passengers on board was Georgian Jewish dentist, Dr Musaev. asserted
One → go → board
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail after returning to Israel, the 47-year-old recounted how he rushed to the aid of the dying Mr Machchhar – as the attacker pleaded with him to end his life. asserted
attacker → speak → life
'Everything was going smoothly when, suddenly, we felt the aircraft drop sharply. asserted
aircraft → go → ?
'We thought it was just turbulence. asserted
it → think → ?
I took out my camera and started filming. asserted
I → take → camera
Exactly half a minute later, we heard noises from the front: shouting, and a woman screaming, "Knife! Knife!",' Mr Musaev said. asserted
Musaev → hear → Knife
'That was when I got up. asserted
I → get → ?
I realised it was a terrorist attack and joined the people ahead of us, who were the first to rush into the cockpit and pull the terrorist out. asserted
who → realise → terrorist
The group of four men, he recounted, then 'grabbed the attacker by the neck' as they dragged him out of the cockpit. asserted
they → recount → cockpit
'We tied the terrorist up, binding his hands and feet,' he added. ' asserted
he → tie → hands
[The attacker said] nothing apart from begging us: "Kill me". asserted
attacker → say → me
Passengers from the flight wait at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia after their flight from Dubai to Israel was diverted Passengers told Israel's Channel 12 that they heard shouts from the front of the jet relating to the altercation between the pilots asserted
they → wait → pilots
In the same moment, Mr Musaev was pleaded with by the dying captain as he helped administer first aid, who said: 'Save me. asserted
who → plead → me
…and 35 more, not listed.
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