The key facts
- The UAE President awarded the crew of flight FZ1073 the First-Class Zayed II Order and assured the pilot that he is part of the 'UAE family'
- The pilot said recovery would take about two months
- According to the UAE prosecutor's office, the first officer planned a suicide attack motivated by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks
Meeting in Abu Dhabi
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed met in Abu Dhabi with Captain Smit Machchhar and the flydubai crew injured in the attack aboard flight FZ1073 Dubai — Tel Aviv on September 30. During the conversation, recorded on video by the broadcaster Emirates News, the president asked the pilot about his head injuries and recovery timeline. The pilot, with stitches on the back of his head and his arm in a sling, replied that recovery would take about two months. After that, Sheikh Mohamed joked that once the pilot recovers, he wants to have a jiu-jitsu training session with him, 'to teach him how to fight.'
Awards and words of support
'Whatever happens in your life, the UAE is your country. There is a home for you here, and you have a family,' the president told the crew, according to The National. The crew of flight 1073 was presented with the First-Class Zayed II Order; the awards were handed over by Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed. Also present at the meeting were Vice President and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid and other leaders of the country. The leaders stressed that the safety of people is the UAE's highest priority. According to them, the crew's actions ensured the safety of more than 170 passengers.
What is known about the attack and the investigation
On September 30, the first officer — a 29-year-old citizen of Oman — attacked Captain Machchhar with an axe in the cockpit and tried to seize control; the aircraft descended 17,000 feet in less than a minute. The wounded pilot managed to open the cockpit door, after which the crew and passengers subdued the attacker, and the aircraft made a safe landing in Tabuk (Saudi Arabia). UAE Attorney General Hamad Al Shamsi said the investigation classified the incident as a premeditated suicide attack: according to the suspect's confession, he wanted to fly the plane into Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv and was inspired by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, which is why he had built a career as a pilot. The investigation also reviewed flydubai's hiring procedures: the suspect worked at Oman Air from 2020 to 2024, then briefly at Royal Air Maroc in 2025, and joined flydubai in January 2026; the review showed that he met all professional and safety requirements, and no procedure revealed his extremist views.
