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Conflict & Security28 outlets ran this4 min read

Flydubai pilot Smit Machchhar recounts cockpit attack

Pilot describes being struck with an axe and losing consciousness during flight to Tel Aviv.

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published
Smit Machchhar

What this story says

  • Indian pilot Smit Machchhar was attacked by his co-pilot on a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv.
  • The co-pilot allegedly used an emergency crash axe and tried to seize control of the aircraft.
  • Machchhar was injured and lost consciousness multiple times during the incident.
  • Other pilots aboard diverted the flight to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, and the co-pilot was taken into custody.

Who covered it

Left 13%(2)Centre 27%(4)Right 60%(9)

Percentages are shares of the 15 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 13 of the 28 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

60/100

Craft

65/100

Hype

45/100

28 sources · methodology

Thin on the left so far

Only 2 of the 15 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.

This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.

Indian pilot Smit Machchhar recounted being attacked by his co-pilot aboard a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. Machchhar stated the co-pilot used an emergency crash axe and attempted to seize control of the aircraft. The flight was diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where the co-pilot was taken into custody.

Machchhar said the attack occurred about two hours into the flight. He initially thought something had broken off the aircraft's roof before realising he was being struck from behind. The blows narrowed his vision, and he lost consciousness multiple times. He managed to open the cockpit door, allowing other crew members to intervene.

Disagreement on the weapon used

Live Mint reported the co-pilot allegedly attacked Machchhar with an emergency crash axe. However, Times of India and PressNewsAgency stated he was stabbed. NDTV reported the co-pilot sneaked in from behind and hit him, with Machchhar saying he did not look back because the co-pilot said he would offer prayers.

What the coverage left out

None of the left-rated digests mention the UAE attorney general's statement that the co-pilot planned to crash the aircraft into Israel's Ben Gurion Airport. The centre-rated digests did not include this detail either. The right-rated digests also omitted this information.

Tags:#Flydubai#CockpitAttack#AviationSafety#MiddleEast#SmitMachchhar

Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 5 times, most recently on 18 Oct 2026, 00:00, and will add the sides that appear.

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

2 rated outlets

  • Vanguard News and La Presse led with the pilot's quote, "I can't die like this." Both digests reported that the co-pilot planned a suicide attack on an Israeli airport. Vanguard News also mentioned Machchhar's vision was restricted to a few inches due to being struck in the head with an axe.

Centre

4 rated outlets

  • Live Mint, Times of Malta, Hindustan Times, and TF1 INFO all highlighted the pilot's quote, "You can't die like this." Live Mint provided the most detail from the full report, including Machchhar's account of the attack, his loss of consciousness, and the diversion of the flight. Times of Malta and TF1 INFO also mentioned the axe. Hindustan Times focused on the colleague's bravery.

Right

9 rated outlets

  • Yonhap News Agency, Arutz Sheva, The Straits Times, Times of India, Tribune India, India Today, NDTV, and India TV News led with variations of the quote "You can't die like this." Several reports, including Times of India and India Today, mentioned the co-pilot attacked Machchhar with a crash axe. NDTV noted the co-pilot approached from behind while Machchhar was not looking.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Flydubai pilot Smit Machchhar recounts cockpit attack?
Of the 15 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 13% are rated left, 27% are rated centre, 60% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 28. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Flydubai pilot Smit Machchhar recounts cockpit attack left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 15 rated outlets on this story, 13% are rated left, 27% are rated centre, 60% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of Flydubai pilot Smit Machchhar recounts cockpit attack biased?
Flydubai pilot Smit Machchhar recounts cockpit attack is one event reported by 28 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting Flydubai pilot Smit Machchhar recounts cockpit attack?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered Flydubai pilot Smit Machchhar recounts cockpit attack?
28 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
What happened on the flydubai flight?
Indian pilot Smit Machchhar was attacked by his co-pilot aboard a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. The co-pilot allegedly used an emergency crash axe and attempted to seize control of the aircraft. Machchhar was injured and lost consciousness multiple times.
Where was the flight diverted?
Other pilots aboard the flydubai flight took control of the aircraft and diverted it to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where it landed safely. The co-pilot was taken into custody following the incident.
What did the co-pilot allegedly plan to do?
According to the UAE attorney general, the co-pilot had planned to take control of the aircraft and crash it into Israel's Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. This detail was not mentioned in the coverage provided.

Read it at the source

488 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

58
Show 50 more

Centre

107
Show 99 more

Right

79
Show 71 more

Not rated

244
Show 236 more

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

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