NIA files terror and hijacking case over flydubai attack on pilot Smit Machchhar

India's National Investigation Agency has opened a criminal case under anti-hijacking and anti-terror laws to investigate an attack on an Indian pilot aboard a flydubai passenger jet last month.

The agency acted on an order from the central government directing it to examine whether a wider conspiracy lay behind the cockpit violence. The case has been registered under Section 3 of the Anti-Hijacking Act, 2016, alongside terror charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

What happened on flydubai Flight 1073

The incident took place on 30 September aboard flydubai Flight 1073, a scheduled service from Dubai to Tel Aviv. The Boeing aircraft took off at 7:05 am Gulf Standard Time carrying 174 passengers and six crew members, under the command of Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, alongside an Omani first officer.

While cruising near the border between Jordan and Saudi Arabia, the aircraft entered a sudden, rapid descent and turned back into Saudi airspace. Inside the cockpit, the first officer drew a weapon and stabbed Captain Machchhar, inflicting deep lacerations to his head and hands in an apparent bid to seize control and crash the airliner.

Crew members and passengers intervened, overpowering and restraining the co-pilot. Off-duty flydubai pilots travelling as passengers stepped into the cockpit, stabilised the aircraft and diverted it to northwestern Saudi Arabia. The plane touched down safely at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Airport in Tabuk at approximately 10:45 am GST, where Saudi security forces took the first officer into custody.

Why the NIA is investigating

Under Indian law, the NIA can investigate offences committed against Indian citizens abroad that fall under scheduled statutes, including hijacking and terrorism. In directing the agency to register a first information report, the Union government noted that the mid-air assault carried serious national and international security ramifications.

Investigators are tasked with establishing whether the co-pilot acted entirely on his own or had assistance from an organised cell. Authorities in the United Arab Emirates have also been running a parallel investigation. The UAE attorney general stated that investigators believe the first officer intended to fly the passenger plane into the terminal building at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport.

Propaganda outfits linked to regional militant groups have also seized on the incident. Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent commended the stabbing in its publication Nawa-e-Gazwa-e-Hind, framing it as retaliation over the conflict in Gaza, though neither it nor any other group has claimed operational responsibility for planning the attack.

Machchhar survived the assault and received emergency medical treatment for his wounds after landing in Tabuk. Saudi authorities continue to hold the accused co-pilot, and Indian investigators have not yet indicated whether they will seek formal access to question him.