Indian captain Smit Machchhar was hailed as a hero by India's president and prime minister, and by Israel's prime minister, after he was stabbed while allegedly stopping his co-pilot from crashing flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv on 30 September. The plane dropped sharply from 34,000 feet and diverted to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia, landing with all 174 people aboard; Israeli media, citing officials, said the co-pilot was an Omani national and was overpowered with help from passengers and crew. The case matters because a possible deliberate act by a pilot is among aviation's gravest safety threats, and investigators are still to establish the motive.