Flydubai FZ1073 cockpit attack: How a 6-year-old girl’s washroom trip triggered alarm

A teacher from Gurukul School of Art paints a portrait honouring Smit Machchhar,, an Indian pilot with FlyDubai, in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026.(AP Photo)

Mother hears cockpit struggle, alerts crew

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Express InfoGenIE · Animated reconstruction

Flydubai FZ1073: Follow Nina as the plane plunges

How a six-year-old’s trip to the lavatory led passengers to the cockpit. Tap a step to pause on it.

ANIMATED RECONSTRUCTION based on passenger accounts, pilot testimony and published reporting. Not actual footage.

▶ Play all1 Lavatory2 Noises3 Alarm4 Door opens5 Plunge6 Rush7 Restrained8 Control9 Tabuk

​COCKPITLAV​​​​ ​​​​RESTRAINED ​​​​​​ ​​

​TABUK · 06:58 GMT

1 · About 9:30 am local time

Nina, 6, asks her mother Tali to take her to the lavatory.

Tali Manes account

2 · Moments later

Near the front of the cabin, Tali hears a series of heavy blows against the cockpit door.

Tali Manes account

3 ·  

“Something is happening in there!” She alerts a flight attendant.

Tali Manes account

4 ·  

The cockpit door opens. The captain, Smit Machchhar, is injured. The co-pilot is in the cockpit.

Manes account; Machchhar told PM Modi he got the door open

5 · From 05:21 GMT

No one is flying the aircraft. It plunges from 34,000 ft.

AP, Flightradar24

6 ·  

“Come help!” A small group of passengers rushes to the cockpit.

Tali Manes account

7 ·  

The passengers overpower the co-pilot. Tali helps tie him with a telephone cord; a dentist on board treats the captain.

Tali Manes account

8 ·  

Two off-duty pilots on board take control. The aircraft levels out around 15,000 ft.

Reuters, AP

9 · 06:58 GMT

Emergency landing at Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

AP

TIME​

ALTITUDE FT​

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SCENE​

Who did what

How passengers helped save the plane

Capt. Smit Machchhar

Injured in the cockpit

Realised the aircraft was plunging

Told PM Modi he got the cockpit door open

Tali Manes

Heard blows on the cockpit door

Alerted a flight attendant

Shouted for help; helped tie up the co-pilot

Passengers

Rushed into the cockpit

Overpowered the co-pilot

A dentist treated the captain

Off-duty pilots

Two were on board

Took control of the aircraft

Landed it at Tabuk

‘One last push’

“I managed to do it and people entered.”— Capt. Smit Machchhar, describing opening the cockpit door, in his call with PM Narendra Modi

Accounts differ on who opened the door: Tali Manes has said a flight attendant opened it after she raised the alarm; Machchhar has said he managed to open it. Both may describe parts of the same moments; investigators have not published a sequence.

About this reconstruction: Movements of Nina and Tali Manes and the people in the cockpit are reconstructed from their published accounts and are not recorded positions. Times shown as “~” are approximate; “9:30 am” is local time as reported. Altitude values are from AP’s reconstruction of Flightradar24 data and are not animated second by second. The co-pilot is accused; his motive has not been established. No injuries are depicted.

Sources: Reuters, AP, Flightradar24, Tali Manes’s account as reported, Capt. Smit Machchhar’s remarks to PM Modi.

Express InfoGenIE

Tali said she first heard strange noises and knocking from inside the cockpit and alerted a nearby flight attendant. When the cockpit door was opened, she said she saw blood and a violent struggle. “There was blood all over the cockpit and very, very sharp fighting moves,” she told Channel 12. She then screamed, “He’s stabbing the pilot, he’s stabbing the pilot, come help!”

Pilot Smit Machchhar’s fight to open cockpit door

In a video call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, Machchhar described how he managed to open the cockpit door despite his injuries. “I knew that the aircraft was going down … I had fallen to the ground. I told myself that the door is right there, just open it. I managed to do it and people entered,” he said.

A passenger on board a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv captured the moment it landed safely in Saudi Arabia after an ordeal of what Israeli officials said was an attempt to crash the plane https://t.co/YJoleEhjZI pic.twitter.com/E9QMuqGM23

— Reuters (@Reuters) October 2, 2026

Passengers overpower accused pilot as plane nosedives

As Flydubai Flight FZ1073 plunged from about 34,000 feet to 16,600 feet, passengers rushed toward the cockpit and helped overpower the co-pilot who had attacked Machchhar. Associated Press reported that the aircraft later went through further sharp altitude changes before making an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

In a video posted on social media during the incident, a bloodied passenger described the situation as a hijacking and said the attackers had been subdued. “We’re here during the hijacking of an aeroplane. At this point we’ve subdued the terrorists; we’re approaching landing. Whoever is hearing me, we need help,” he said.

Passengers recount terrifying moments

Yasmin Abu Kasis, whose daughter Miriam was on the flight, told AP that Miriam saw a man with a weapon and a pilot on the floor and heard screaming. “The plane started to lose control. So all the people screamed,” Yasmin said.