CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI ■ ■ BHUBANESWAR l thursday l October 01, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l JEYPORE EDITION INFLIGHT TERROR A g e n c i e s @ Dubai/Jerusalem Flight FZ1073 1 5.21 UTC: Flight begins steep descent, followed by a sharp ascent, repeats it, as per Flightradar24 2 2 1 3 4 Route of Fly Dubai flight 5.28.48 am: Aircraft begins squawking 7700, a discreet international code to indicate general emergency 3 05:33 am: Aircraft then oscillates around an altitude of about 15,000 feet. Ground speed varies significantly 4 05:35 am: Switches to squawk 7500, another code to indicate unlawful interference. Flight then turns west, briefly entering Jordanian airspace before turning back 180 degrees and heading southwest toward Tabuk in Saudi Arabia. It switches back to squawk 7700 as it approached Tabuk, lands at 6.58 am A Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk airport on Wednesday after the co-pilot allegedly stabbed the captain with a knife and tried to to intentionally crash the plane with 174 passengers, most of them Israelis. The incident prompted Israel to close its airspace and scramble warplanes over fears that the jet had been hijacked. Flight-tracking data showed the plane suddenly plummeted, losing around 17,000 feet of altitude in the span of a minute. The aircraft subsequently transmitted emergency signals, including a code indicating possible unlawful interference. Following the pandemonium, two off-duty Flydubai pilots who were travelling in the same plane as passengers entered the cockpit and took control of the flight. The knifewielding co-pilot was subdued with the help of passengers and the plane was diverted to Saudi Arabia for emergency landing. The off-duty pilots landed the plane safely and the passengers were later flown to Tel Aviv in another aircraft. “The aircraft was successfully secured by on-duty Flydubai crew travelling on the flight, who diverted and landed the aircraft safely at Tabuk Airport. All passengers and crew are safe and accounted for,” a Flydubai spokesperson said. Flydubai said the reasons for the fight between the pilots were unknown. “At this early stage, the underlying reasons and motives behind this event are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation. We urge all parties to refrain from premature speculation while authorities gather the facts,” a spokersperson said. The airline said it was cooperating with the relevant authorities and that all passengers were safe. “The captain and copilot were found to have injuries and were transported to hospital,” a statement from the Tabuk airport said. An Israeli official said there may have been an attempt to attack Israelis, and an investigation is ongoing. He said that a “major disaster was narrowly avoided” adding passengers had prevented an ‘Israeli 9/11’ by tying up the assailant. While Flydubai did not disclose the identities of the pilots, some Israeli media outlets identified them as Omani and Emirati nationals. Meanwhile, some reports claimed the captain was Indian national Smit Machchhar. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said one of the pilots stabbed the other and apparently attempted to crash the aircraft with Israeli passengers on board. He said the pilot who carried out the stabbing had been arrested and was being questioned by Saudi authorities. Netanyahu said an Israeli passenger told him that the aircraft went into a spin and began descending, after which the passenger and a crew member managed to break into the cockpit and, together, they overpowered the pilot who had carried out the stabbing while he was attempting to sabotage the aircraft’s systems. He said another crew member then entered the cockpit and helped stabilise the aircraft. “I salute these heroes who demonstrated extraordinary resourcefulness and courage. They prevented a major disaster,” he said. (From left) Kushal Dalal, Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumuru and Sahil Jadhav celebrate after winning gold medal in the men’s team event on Wednesday | pti | P11 INDIA bloc to fight CEC in streets P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi IN a show of unity, 20 INDIA bloc parties came together here on Wednesday to announce a joint action plan demanding the immediate removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and a return to ballot papers over EVMs. Kumar has been under Opposition and civil society fire for a week since reports revealed a rift in the functioning of the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. After a three-hour-meeting, the INDIA bloc parties, in a joint press meet, announced they would rope in youngsters and civil society organisations and hold ‘Save Democracy’ marches from October 2-8 before district magistrate offices to press their charge of ‘vote chori’. On October 6, all opposition MPs will march to the EC headquarters in Delhi. Opposition leaders will seek an appointment with the President in the second week of October to submit a representation on the matter. The bloc will also hold five massive rallies across the country in October and November, including one in Delhi on November 1. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, CPM general secretary M A Baby, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav and NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule were among those at the meeting; Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Jharkhand CM and JMM chief Hemant Soren joined online. At the briefing, Kharge said the bloc will appeal to the Supreme Court to expedite the cases related to the SIR and electoral malpractices. Kharge said everyone had agreed that all polls should be conducted on ballot papers and that laws framed by this “chori government” should be annulled. He dubbed Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah as real “puppeteers” of EC. Sources said Mamata, during the meeting, called for a broader Opposition mobilisation and urged all leaders to set aside their egos to fight the BJP. Modi, Trump hold first call since Russia bill’s passage J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump agreed to maintain close engagement to advance the India-US strategic partnership in their first conversation since the US passed the Russia sanctions law. The call also came as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is in the US for talks aimed at advancing a proposed bilateral trade agreement and securing an interim trade arrangement. During the telephone conversation, Modi and Trump reviewed cooperation in trade, defence, energy and critical technologies and other areas of mutual interest, an official release said. They “reaffirmed their commitment to advancing the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership and agreed to maintain close engagement to deepen cooperation,” the statement said. “Had a productive conversation with President Trump,” Modi wrote on X. The call came amid rising trade tensions after the US enactment of the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, allowing the US to slap up to 100% tariffs on buyers of Russian oil and gas, including India. LeT terrorist who plotted Pahalgam attack killed Security forces on Wednesday killed top Pakistani terrorist of LeT Mohammad Asif, alias Asif Fauji, alias Hashim Moosa, in a gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam district | P8