The best response to the terror which nearly crashed that flydubai plane

Read the original at New York Post ↗
New York Post · collected 2026-10-02 · by Josh Hammer

Quick Summary

This opinion piece discusses a recent incident involving FlyDubai Flight 1073 where an Omani co-pilot attempted to crash the plane by stabbing the Indian pilot. The author highlights acts of bravery by passengers and crew who subdued the attacker, and emphasizes the importance of maintaining peace between Israel and the UAE despite this terrorist act. The article argues against weakening diplomatic relations and instead advocates for strengthening ties as part of a broader strategy to counter threats from Iran.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-02, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

On September 30, 2026, a Flydubai flight (flight FZ1073) from Dubai to Tel Aviv signaled an emergency while over Jordanian airspace and was subsequently diverted to land in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. The initial distress call raised concerns of potential hijacking, prompting Israel to scramble fighter jets as a precautionary measure. However, it later emerged that the emergency signal resulted from a physical altercation between the plane's two pilots rather than any form of unlawful interference. The flight, carrying around 150 people predominantly Israeli citizens, landed safely without further incident. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held consultations over the event as security officials confirmed the situation was under control and would become clearer upon landing in Saudi Arabia.

Written for “Israel Bound Flight Diverted” on 2026-10-05, grounded in this article and the 299 other(s) covering the same event.

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
36
claim-shaped sentences
Uncertain
11%
4 of 36 hedged
Leaning
Leans strongly right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Correction & hedging signals
64.4
corrections and hedging in what we collected; not a measure of accuracy
Outlets on this story
300
Politics
Narrative spread
1
articles carrying this framing
Analyzed 2026-10-02 · how these are computed

Story

📰 Israel Bound Flight Diverted
Politics · 300 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans strongly right and hedges 11% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
New York Post
⚖️ Leans strongly right 🔴 8% hedged 1 of 13 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles describe the exact same incident involving FlyDubai Flight 1073 where the co-pilot attempted to stab the pilot, leading to the passengers and crew thwarting a terrorist attack.”
TIME
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 14% hedged 6 of 44 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe the identical incident involving Flydubai flight 1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30, where the co-pilot attacked the pilot with a weapon causing the plane to dive.”
BBC News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 17% hedged 1 of 6 📰 publisher trust 78
“Both articles describe the same incident involving an attack on a FlyDubai flight by one of its pilots, leading to heroism from Smit Machchhar and the safe landing of the plane.”
Times of India
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 25% hedged 3 of 12 📰 publisher trust 59
“Both articles describe the identical incident involving FlyDubai Flight FZ1073, where an Indian pilot Smit Machchhar was attacked by his co-pilot mid-flight, leading to passengers helping subdue the attacker and ensuring a safe landing.”
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 4% hedged 1 of 28 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles describe the exact same incident involving Flydubai Flight 1073, where a co-pilot allegedly attacked the captain mid-flight and passengers intervened to save the plane.”
National Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 5% hedged 3 of 57 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe the same incident involving a terrorist attack on FlyDubai Flight 1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv, where one co-pilot attacked the other during the flight.”
Fox News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 17% hedged 5 of 29 📰 publisher trust 69
“Both articles describe the same incident involving a near-hijacking of FlyDubai Flight 1073, where the pilot Smit Machchhar was stabbed by his co-pilot during the flight.”
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 5% hedged 1 of 19 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles describe the hijacking attempt on an Israel-bound flight by a co-pilot who stabbed the captain, with passengers calling for help during the incident.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 10% hedged 5 of 52 📰 publisher trust 65
“Both articles describe the same incident involving the attempted hijacking of a FlyDubai flight from Dubai to Israel by a co-pilot, which was thwarted by passengers and the pilot.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 6% hedged 5 of 77 📰 publisher trust 65
“Both articles describe the same incident involving a Flydubai flight where one pilot allegedly stabbed another and passengers intervened to regain control of the plane.”

Publisher

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Running correction rate · 23 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Josh Hammer
3 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The anti-Israel press may have downplayed the harrowing affair as a “pilot altercation,” but the fact is a Muslim pilot tried to crash a plane full of Jews.
🔮 The deal was widely ridiculed: Critics called it “Seward’s Folly,” after secretary of state and lead negotiator William Seward.
🔮 A new poll from Politico has the grisly details: 63% of Americans think AI has the potential to “destroy humanity.” A majority of both Democrats and Republicans now think AI could herald the apocalypse. That’s quite a sea change in less than a year: In December 2025, a poll from Navigator Research found Americans split roughly equally among those favoring data centers, opposing data centers or ambivalent.
Also by Josh Hammer
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

Arab Flight 1073 Israel Israeli Saudi Arabia

Subjects

Israeli NORP · 5× Arab NORP · 3× Hamas ORG · 3× Israel GPE · 3× Saudi Arabia GPE · 3× Bahrain GPE · 2× Emirati GPE · 2× Kuwait GPE · 2× Netanyahu PERSON · 2× UAE GPE · 2×

Narrative

Just weeks previously, Netanyahu dedicated much of his September 2023 address to the UN General Assembly to the topic; Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Fox News’ Bret Baier that September, “every day we get closer” to diplomatic normalization. Peace seemed imminent.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-02
🔮 The anti-Israel press may have downplayed the harrowing affair as a “pilot altercation,” but the fact is a Muslim pilot tried to crash a plane full of Jews.
2026-10-02 · New York Post
The best response to the terror which nearly crashed that flydubai plane · assertive framing

Claims (36 extracted, 4 hedged)

Terrorists want nothing more than to prevent peace. asserted
Terrorists → want → peace
It’s why they fly planes into buildings, don explosive vests and rain indiscriminate missiles on civilian populations. asserted
they → ’ → populations
The response to such terrorism isn’t to cower — but to lead with boldness, courage and, sometimes, outright heroism. asserted
response → cower → boldness
The world saw such heroism this week in the high drama of FlyDubai Flight 1073, from Dubai to Tel Aviv. asserted
world → see → Aviv
There was pilot Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, who had the presence of mind to open the cockpit door as he was brutally stabbed by his terrorist Omani co-pilot, in a plane nose-diving 10,000 feet a minute. asserted
he → be → plane
There were the ordinary Israeli citizens — and above all new national hero Yaniv Hayoun — who, Todd Beamer-style, swiftly rushed the cockpit and subdued the terrorist in a chokehold. asserted
who → be → chokehold
There was the Emirati flight crew, which handled the madness with aplomb, preventing chaos in a terrified cabin and ensuring the passengers’ safety. asserted
which → be → safety
There were the two off-duty pilots — reportedly British, South African or New Zealander in nationality — who were somehow able to glide the plane to a safe emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. uncertain
who → be → Arabia
That’s extraordinary, as a military pilot pointed out to Israeli tech writer Hillel Fuld: “In virtually every historical incident where an airliner got anywhere close to these speeds, the tail ripped off the entire back of the plane. asserted
tail → ’ → plane
In the Bible’s Book of Esther, God is not mentioned once. asserted
God → mention → Esther
His name doesn’t need to appear: His presence is felt, and seen, everywhere. So it is with the events aboard FlyDubai Flight 1073. asserted
it → need → Flight
Some have reacted to this mesmerizing story in knee-jerk fashion. asserted
Some → react → fashion
They have leapt to call for the cancellation of all direct flights between Israel and the United Arab Emirates — and perhaps downgrading the ties between Israel and the Arab world more broadly. asserted
They → leap → Israel
The anti-Israel press may have downplayed the harrowing affair as a “pilot altercation,” but the fact is a Muslim pilot tried to crash a plane full of Jews. uncertain
pilot → downplay → Jews
That looks like terrorism — and that’s certainly what the Israelis think happened. asserted
Israelis → look → terrorism
But terror attacks and near-terror attacks must not be permitted to derail peace. asserted
attacks → permit → peace
Allowing that would actually do the terrorists’ bidding. asserted
Allowing → allow → bidding
The Abraham Accords, those dynamic 2020 peace agreements that normalized Israeli relations with the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco, must go on. asserted
that → normalize → UAE
Indeed, they must expand. asserted
they → expand → ?
Many predicted the Abraham Accords would die after the Hamas savagery of Oct. 7, 2023, and the ensuing war in Gaza. asserted
Accords → predict → Gaza
They didn’t. asserted
They → do → ?
The Iran conflict, which has seen the Islamic Republic strike the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, has sent an unmistakable message: The threat to the Sunni Gulf states doesn’t come from Jerusalem. asserted
threat → see → Jerusalem
It comes from Tehran. asserted
It → come → Tehran
That’s why, just days before the near-catastrophe aboard Flight 1073, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Abu Dhabi to meet with representatives from eight different Arab countries. asserted
Netanyahu → ’ → countries
Prior to that confab, Netanyahu rendezvoused directly with Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed — the first time such a bilateral meeting was publicly verified by both countries. asserted
meeting → rendezvous → countries
Perhaps, then, the attempted terror attack timing isn’t a coincidence: The rumor mill has been swirling that Kuwait might soon join the Abraham Accords. uncertain
Kuwait → attempt → Accords
It’s not hard to see what’s going on here. asserted
what → ’ → ?
Before the Oct. 7 pogrom, Saudi Arabia — the de facto leader of the Arab world — was on the precipice of making peace with Israel. asserted
Arabia → make → Israel
Just weeks previously, Netanyahu dedicated much of his September 2023 address to the UN General Assembly to the topic; Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Fox News’ Bret Baier that September, “every day we get closer” to diplomatic normalization. Peace seemed imminent. asserted
Peace → dedicate → normalization
One of the aims of Hamas’ massacre was to stop Israeli-Saudi normalization in its tracks. asserted
One → stop → tracks
But despite the setback, the House of Saud still knows that peace with Israel is an inevitability. asserted
peace → know → Israel
We cannot allow this week’s would-be terrorist copilot to succeed, either. asserted
copilot → allow → ?
This is not the time to pump the diplomatic brakes. asserted
This → pump → brakes
And we might have to brace ourselves for additional attempted terror attacks, as jihadists once again try to stop peace. uncertain
jihadists → have → peace
Israel is undoubtedly prepared for that, and the Arab states should prepare too. asserted
states → prepare → that
But the pursuit of regional peace must go on. asserted
pursuit → go → peace
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