'Israel's 9/11' or a 'Diverted' Flight? New Details Emerge on Flydubai Plane Hijacking

New reporting and media framing have emerged on Flydubai flight FZ1073, which made an emergency landing on Wednesday after one pilot stabbed the other.

The Pilot: ​​Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, was stabbed by his co-pilot, who was reportedly an Omani national. Outlets across the spectrum and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Machchhar was the one who opened the door, though CNN (Lean Left bias) offered more cautious wording and said, "During the struggle the cockpit door was opened." Most outlets framed Machchhar as a "hero." The Indian embassy in Riyadh said Machchhar was in stable condition on Thursday.

Other Heroes: Other passengers stormed the cockpit and subdued the attacker. According to The Guardian (Left), one of them was Dr. Shota Musaev, a dentist who said, "[Machchhar] was covered in cuts – his head, his hands – they were practically sliced open, almost severed in two… he had lost a lot of blood and was in bad shape." The Guardian said other crew members and an off-duty British pilot helped land the plane. Another passenger, maintenance man Yaniv Hayoun, told The Free Press (Lean Right) he was motivated to intervene after glancing at his wife and children. Hayoun said, "I managed to open the cockpit door with the help of another crewmember. We physically fought with the co-pilot; he was going wild. I put him in a chokehold, took control of him, and dragged him out of the cockpit. Then I called for other Israelis to help restrain him."

Act of Terror?: Israel, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia have all opened their own investigations into the incident. Flydubai has paused flights to Israel while investigations take place. The Guardian highlighted that Israel's ambassador to the UN described it as a "terror attack" while Netanyahu has said it's still too early to confirm that. Netanyahu told Fox News (Right), however, that the attacking pilot "underwent Islamist radical indoctrination." Some, including The Telegraph (Center), Hungarian Conservative (Lean Right), and Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL), have described the event as "Israel's 9/11." Qatari outlet Al Jazeera (Lean Left) described the incident as a "diverted Flydubai flight." Conversely, The Jerusalem Post (Center) described it as an attempted "terror hijacking."

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