30 September 2026, 9:21 am. Suddenly a plane started falling face down in the sky of Saudi Arabia. Within a few minutes it came down from a height of 34 thousand feet to 17 thousand feet. The speed also increased from 760 to 1110 km/h. Passengers sitting in the plane say their last prayers
.
But the courage and spirit of a blood-soaked ‘hero’ inside the cockpit saved all 180 lives. Name is- Captain Smit Mosquito. Israeli PM Netanyahu, Indian PM Modi and US President Trump praised Captain Smit and said that he saved a major accident like 9/11 from happening.
After all, who is Smit Mosquito, what happened in the cockpit and was an accident like 9/11 really averted? Will know in today’s explainer…
Question-1: What happened in the cockpit that the plane suddenly started falling?
Answer: This was a Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft of flydubai airline. The plane took off from Dubai International Airport in UAE at 7:05 am local time. Captain Smit and a co-pilot were present inside the cockpit. The flight was going to Tel Aviv city of Israel.
At around 8 o’clock the plane was at a height of 35,000 feet. Everything continued normally for about two and a half hours after take off. The plane left UAE airspace and reached the skies of Saudi Arabia. After this suddenly everything changes….
- First of all, the lights of the plane went off and the pressure in the cabin started decreasing. Yasmin Abukasis, mother of one of the passengers, Miriam Shira Ohayon, told media that Miriam heard screaming coming from the cockpit.
- After this the balance of the plane started deteriorating. At 9:21 the plane dived sharply, then climbed rapidly and started falling again.
- According to data from Flight Radar24, two messages containing emergency codes were sent from the cockpit. First of all at 9:28 the plane sent emergency code 7700. At that time he was flying near the Saudi-Jordan border.
- By about 9:33 he had descended to about 15,000 feet. There was chaos in the cabin. The passengers were trying to understand what had happened.
A passenger has recorded this video of that time. It seems that the plane has lost its balance due to severe turbulence.
- After this, at 9:35 the transponder code of the plane changed to 7500, which is an indication of illegal interference, i.e. hijacking of the plane. After this the plane turned and went to Jordanian airspace for some time and then returned towards Saudi.
- An Israeli passenger told Israeli newspaper ‘The Jerusalem Post’ that one pilot stabbed the other and then tried to force him out of the cockpit.
- According to Yasmin, a passenger went towards the cockpit, there a pilot, i.e. Smit, was lying on the ground soaked in blood. However, he had opened the latch of the cockpit door. During this time the nose of the plane was tilted down, it was going down rapidly. After this a passenger went inside and called out to the other passengers for help.
Question-2: If Smit was bleeding, how did the flight land safely?
Answer: The first passenger to enter the cockpit was Yaniv Hayoon. After the safe landing of Flight FZ 1073, Netanyahu met Yaniv at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport and congratulated him with a hug.
Yaniv, a plumber by profession, told Netanyahu that an off-duty pilot was also present on the plane. Both of them together tried to open the cockpit door, but were initially unsuccessful.
However, before fainting, Smit opened the door. Then Yaniv reached inside and said, ‘Both the pilots’ seats were vacant. I saw one pilot lying bleeding on the floor and the other pilot sitting on the control panel between the two seats.
Yaniv grabbed the co-pilot by the neck and dragged him backwards out of the cockpit. When asked by Netanyahu, Yaniv said that it seemed that he was trying to tamper with or damage the control panel.
Yaniv called out to other passengers. Everyone together caught hold of the accused co-pilot and pulled him out of the cockpit. According to Tzika Manes, one of the three Israeli passengers who controlled the co-pilot, it took about 20-25 minutes to control the attacking pilot. All three tied him with wired headphones.
After this, Yaniv held the control sticks and pulled them back, so that the plane could rise up.
Netanyahu hugged Yavin and said, ‘You are a hero.’
Netanyahu asked, ‘Did you really do this?’ To this Yaniv laughingly replied, ‘Yes, I had pulled the sticks back completely. I keep watching the investigations of plane accidents.
After pulling the sticks the plane started becoming somewhat stable. According to Yaniv, two pilots were present in the cabin. He seemed to be in shock initially. Yaniv shouted at him to take control of the plane.
A pilot took control and diverted the plane towards Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. The plane landed safely at the airport at 10:45.
An Israeli dentist present on the flight provided initial treatment to Smit. “We kept him alive till the end,” Yaniv said.
In the video, passengers are seen helping the injured Smit. During this time he is wearing an oxygen mask.
Netanyahu asked Yaniv, wearing blood-stained clothes, ‘Do you know what you were doing?’ Yaniv replied, ‘We are a country of lions.’
In fact, in the Jewish Bible the Jews are compared to a lion rising up. The Israeli attack on Iran in June 2025 was also named ‘Rising Lion’.
This entire story is based on flight-tracking data, Israeli reports, statements from Saudi officials and passengers. The investigation is still ongoing so the sequence of events may change.
Netanyahu told Yaniv, ‘Without you it could have been another 9/11. On this Yaniv also said that according to him this was the intention of the co-pilot.
Israeli passengers are seen reciting ‘Od Avinu Chai’ in a video taken after landing. The meaning of this prayer is- ‘Our father is still alive.’
Question-3: Could an incident like 9/11 really have happened?
Answer: On September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists of the terrorist organization Al Qaeda hijacked 4 domestic American planes. Of these, two were crashed into the Twin Towers of New York and one into the US Defense Headquarters Pentagon building.
The fourth plane was about to crash on the White House, but due to the wisdom of the passengers, it crashed in an empty field in Pennsylvania. More than 2900 people had died. This is considered the world’s biggest terrorist attack.
Plane crashes on the second tower of the World Trade Center. America had killed the attack mastermind Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011.
Apart from Yaniv and Netanyahu, many Israeli journalists and common people have called Smit’s co-pilot a terrorist. Netanyahu said in a conversation with Yaniv, ‘If the plane had reached Israel, who knows what would have happened.’ PM Modi has also reiterated Netanyahu’s point of averting an attack like 9/11.
According to reports, the accused co-pilot is a citizen of Oman. It is being investigated how he became the pilot of the flight coming to Israel and whether for this he had acquired the citizenship of Israel or any other country besides Oman. According to Israeli media sources, he had been working at Flydubai Airlines for less than a year.
According to Yaniv, he was tampering with the controls of the plane. However, flydubai has not given any statement on the co-pilot’s intentions behind the attack. After treatment, he has been taken to UAE for questioning.
According to American aviation expert Jeff Guzzetti, ‘If the plane had gone below 10 thousand feet, it would not have been possible to save it from crashing. Israel had also made preparations to shoot down the plane in the air to avoid an attack like 9/11.
According to Israeli news portal Ynet Global, Israeli Air Force pilots were stationed in Jordan. If the plane were to crash inside Israeli territory, it would be shot down in the air.
Question-4: Who is Captain Smit Mosquito and how is his condition now?
Answer: Originally from Gujarat, 39-year-old Smit initially lived in Ghatkopar (East) of Mumbai with his family. According to Smit, becoming a pilot was not his childhood dream.
The family has an old clothing business. After school, Smit did a course in textile engineering related to textile trade. After this he took BBA degree from Welingkar Institute of Management.
According to reports, he got the idea of becoming a pilot while attending an aviation seminar. After this he took pilot training from an institute in New Zealand. About Rs 17 lakh was spent on this.
After this accident, Smit’s podcast of 2025 is in discussion. In this, Smit is telling that his mother was scared of his decision to become a pilot, but his father was absolutely calm.
In 2011, Smit joined SpiceJet Airlines in Mumbai as a commercial pilot. According to Smit, he first flew a flight from Bangalore to Delhi. It was a Boeing plane.
According to Smit’s LinkedIn profile, he has approximately 9,750 hours of flying experience on Boeing 737 aircraft.
Smit flew SpiceJet planes for 11 years. Smit became the training captain in November 2020. After this he used to give flying training to other pilots.
In June 2022, Smit joined UAE airline Flydubai. Here he is on the post of Captain. In commercial flights the captain is called the pilot-in-command. The co-pilot also plays an important role during the flight, but the captain is responsible for the security of the aircraft, its control and the final decision in case of emergency. Currently, Smit lives in Dubai with his two children and wife.
In the October 2025 podcast, Smit had talked about flight security and the importance of doctors and crew members on board the aircraft. He had said, ‘When we are up there and if something happens, who will save you? You will be lucky if there is a doctor present on the flight, they can save your life.
Smit told another incident that a pregnant woman started having labor pain during the flight. In such a situation, he found a nearby airport and got the flight made an emergency landing.
People are celebrating his bravery outside Smit’s house in Mumbai.
Smit became unconscious after being injured, he has been admitted to a hospital in Tabuk, Saudi. The co-pilot accused of attacking him was also admitted to the same hospital. According to reports, Smit has undergone surgery. The Indian Embassy in Riyadh and Consulate in Jeddah are keeping a watch and his condition is currently stable.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also told that he has spoken to Captain Smit’s father Bhupendrabhai, mother Geetaben and wife Sonalben.
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