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An official said the FlyDubai incident is a wake-up call for every security establishment to review and update their systems
In Wednesday’s incident, passengers onboard the flight FZ1073 had to intervene when the pilot was stabbed by his co-pilot. (AFP)
Aviation security in India is likely to undergo an intensive review in the wake of the FlyDubai incident where the co-pilot attacked the Indian pilot-in-command, Captain Smit Machcharinjuring him critically and triggering a hijack scare on Wednesday.
The review may revisit the SoP around general aviation security, including psychometric tests taken by the airlines and the deployment of Sky Marshals on sensitive sectors, official sources suggest.
The pilot-in-command onboard the FlyDubai flight between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv previously worked with Spicejet in India, while his first officer is said to be an Omani national.
ALSO READ | The Squawk Code: Under Attack, How Flydubai Captain Smit Machchhar Sent Secret SOS To ATC
The incident has triggered a review audit of the aviation security apparatus in India. Officials privy to the development said during such reviews, the roles of the airlines, security agencies like CISF and NSG that are trained in hijack intervention and regulators like BCAS and DGCA, with regards to prevention of any such attack or act, are revisited and reviewed for any possible update.
An official aware of the matter said such incidents are a wakeup call for every security establishment to review and update their systems. “From security agencies to the regulators, everyone plays a vital role in ensuring aviation security. The setup has multiple layers and stages, and every agency has its dedicated role to play,” he said, requesting not to be named.
The officer also said airlines conduct psychometric tests on pilots to assess their psychological fitness from time to time, adding that these tests are taken very seriously and are mandated by the country’s aviation regulator.
Similarly, for a possible intervention during any hijack situation, Sky Marshals are deployed on flights plying on sensitive sectors. Their role is to intervene during a hijack situation and neutralise the threat on board the flight.
“These are armed commandos with specialised light-weight weapons that are built especially to allow them to neutralise threats but, at the same time, cause least damage to the aircraft when used. The deployment of Sky Marshals is reviewed from time to time based on threat perception and magnitude, based on which the number of marshals to be deployed on a flight and the sectors they fly on, are updated,” the officer added.
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) oversee and ensure such preparedness.
In Wednesday’s incident, passengers onboard the flight FZ1073 had to intervene when the pilot was stabbed by his co-pilot. The passengers held him down as other pilots onboard landed the flight safely, diverting it to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia. In some of the videos that were doing rounds on social media, the pilot can be seen bleeding profusely following the attack.
Initially, during the incident, a hijack squawk code was also generated, sending alert to agencies, following which Israel scrambled fighter jets followed by a security meet by the Israeli prime minister. There were more than 170 Israeli passengers onboard the flight.
Later, an alternate aircraft was arranged for the passengers stranded at the Tabuk airport and all of them were sent home as further investigations continued.
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Ask News18An incident on a FlyDubai flight where the co-pilot attacked the Indian pilot-in-command, Captain Smit Machchhar, critically injuring him and causing a hijack scare on Wednesday triggered the security review in India.
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Anvit Srivastava, Principal Correspondent at CNN-News18, covers crime, security, policing and society in Delhi. His impactful ground reports have helped him make his mark among the select credited jou…Read More
October 01, 2026, 10:57 IST
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