JERUSALEM (AP) — The identity and motive of the Omani copilot who stabbed his captain on a flight to Israel, causing the plane to plummet dangerously and forcing it to land in Saudi Arabia, remained unknown on Thursday as investigators raced to learn more.
Israeli passengers on the FlyDubai aircraft carrying 174 people from the United Arab Emirates to the Israeli city of Tel Aviv have described how the bloodied Indian captain managed to open the cockpit door to let them in before they grappled with the copilot and stabilized a descent so sharp that the plane’s rudder was torn away.
“We felt helpless, suspended in midair, and I didn’t know who to turn to. But it was all instinct to survive,” one of the responders, Asaf Rajuan, said in a new statement shared by Israel’s presidency.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the copilot was arrested. Video shot inside the plane by Shota Musayev, a dentist who treated the captain, shows the copilot on his knees, with his hands tied behind his back.
Saudi and UAE authorities have said little publicly beyond confirming that investigations were underway. Saudi Arabia does not have formal diplomatic ties with Israel, a potential challenge to any joint investigation.
Capt. Smit Machchhar, widely praised as one of the heroes of the flight, was reportedly in stable condition, the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia said overnight. The condition of the copilot was not clear.
In a CNN interview aired on Wednesday evening, Netanyahu said the attacker was an Omani national and was being interrogated in Saudi Arabia. Asked if there is any indication of Iranian involvement, Netanyahu told Fox News "it’s too early to say.” The prime minister told CNN that Israel had received no specific warning.
U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that he and Netanyahu discussed the incident “at length” by phone and it seemed as though the copilot “was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job."
Netanyahu said he also spoke with the UAE’s president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who agreed that Israel would join the interrogation of the suspect.
Netanyahu had warned in recent days of unspecified, heightened security threats. The country is a week away from the anniversary of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which has triggered the war in Gaza.
Israel’s foreign ministry said the people on board were from Israel, India and the UAE. The U.S. State Department said four passengers had American citizenship.
FlyDubai has said its flights to and from Israel would be suspended.
In the chaos that unfolded about two and a half hours after leaving Dubai, the flight descended from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet (around 10,000 meters to 5,100 meters) in about a minute, before making an erratic circle close to the Jordanian border and landing Tabuk about an hour later, according to Flightradar24, which identified the aircraft as a Boeing 737 Max 8.
The head of the New Zealand flight school where the Indian captain trained, Philip Kean, called it “miraculous in the way that the airplane was never, ever kind of designed for that sort of dive and survive that, the airplane actually didn’t break up completely.”
Already, Trump was praising the U.S.-based Boeing for producing a plane “that was able to withstand G Forces and Strain far beyond what it was designed.”
During the frantic search for a place to land, a person who heard the flight’s communications with air traffic control described the plane being turned away by Saudi Arabia and Jordan before eventually landing in Tabuk, while passengers screamed in the background. The pilot’s voice was trembling as he called “mayday” and said a hijacking was taking place.
The air control operators gave no reason for the refusals. The person who heard the communications spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Associated Press writer Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
An FlyDubai plane carrying Israeli passengers who had earlier been aboard another FlyDubai aircraft that made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia approaches Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Passengers who experienced an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, during a flight on FlyDubai plane, arrive at Ben Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Israeli passenger Yaniv Hayoun, with blood stains on his shirt, who was aboard a Flydubai aircraft that made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, is welcomed at the arrivals gate at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Tomer Appelbaum)
NEW YORK (AP) — One year after rallying past the Red Sox to win an AL Wild Card Series, the New York Yankees battered Boston.
Max Fried dominated the Red Sox in the playoffs for the second straight year, Cody Bellinger and Luis García Jr. homered, and the Yankees rolled to a 9-2 win Wednesday night that completed a two-game sweep.
“We enjoyed tonight. We got a lot more work to do,” Bellinger said.
New York will face AL East champion Tampa Bay in an AL Division Series starting Saturday.
“The fans were electric from the first pitch and the boys were hungry. We got a young, hungry team here," Yankees captain Aaron Judge said as teammates sprayed him with bubbly during the clubhouse celebration. “This makes me feel young every single time.”
Judge missed this series because of a calf injury and isn't sure whether he will play against the Rays, who beat New York 7-6 in the season series.
“Saturday’s a long ways away," he said.
Clinging to a 2-1 lead after Willson Contreras homered to end Boston's 26-inning postseason scoreless streak, the Yankees broke open the game with a six-run sixth after Spencer Jones reached on a wild pitch while striking out leading off — with the help of a video review.
García, acquired at the trade deadline, had three hits in his first postseason start, and Bellinger had four RBIs that included a three-run homer capping the sixth-inning burst that put New York ahead 8-1.
“Step one,” said Bellinger, who caught the ceremonial first pitch from his dad, Clay, a 2000 Yankees World Series champion. “Now we got to go into Tampa and play against a tough team."
Boston, which reached the playoffs after rebounding from a 32-46 start, lost last year's wild-card matchup after defeating the Yankees in the opener.
“Regardless of all the special things that happened this summer, and there was quite a few, the goal is to win the World Series and that ended for us tonight, so it’s frustrating,” Red Sox manager Chad Tracy said. “There’s a lot of things you can say, but in the moment right now, I think the guys only care that we lost. And it’s going to take some time to get over that.”
Boston, which also got a seventh-inning homer from Nick Sogard off Will Warren, was missing leadoff hitter Roman Anthony because of a hand injury. The Red Sox were held to a .117 average in the series (7 for 60) with 18 strikeouts and outscored 18-2.
Every starter had a hit for New York, which batted .382 in the series. Boston's bullpen had a 20.25 ERA.
“We played great baseball in a lot of ways here, obviously anchored by our two great starters," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
Yankees batters hit .450 (9 for 20) with runners in scoring position after finishing 19th among the 30 teams with a .246 RISP during the regular season.
“I feel like it’s a whole new level from regular season to these last two days,” Austin Wells said.
A day after Cam Schlittler led New York to a 9-0 win, Fried pitched three-hit ball over six innings to win a postseason game for the first time since the 2021 World Series clincher with Atlanta.
New York started eight left-handed hitters against Sonny Gray, back on the mound where his career derailed during a dismal Yankees stretch in 2017 and ’18.
García's fourth-inning homer put the Yankees ahead and Bellinger, one of the top lefty-on-lefty hitters in the major leagues, added a fifth-inning RBI single against left-handed Erik Miller, who had just relieved.
Gray was disappointed he wasn't allowed to face Bellinger.
“I think I’m the best pitcher in the American League going through the order a third time. I think that’s a fact,” Gray said. "I would’ve liked to live or die with me in that moment, but that's the competitor I am. And, yeah, I think you can probably ask the guys and they felt the same way. So I felt strong. I felt confident. I felt convicted.”
Jones struck out both to start and end the bottom of the sixth, a weird half-inning that included a wild pitch, throwing error, stolen base, bunt single and intentional walk to Ben Rice that preceded Bellinger's homer.
"I can’t believe they were willing to face a guy like Belli with men on base there," Rice said.
Garrett Crochet, who beat the Yankees in last year's Wild Card Series opener, hadn't pitched since April 25 because of left shoulder inflammation when he bounced a sweeper off Adley Rutschman's chest. The catcher picked up the ball and threw to first, where umpire John Libka signaled that Jones was out. The Yankees appealed and the call was reversed by the video umpire at the commissioner's office.
“I couldn’t believe he was there,” Boone said. "I saw the ball squirt away a little bit. I didn’t think that much of it, and looked up and I was, like, 'Oh, he’s safe.'''
Jones swiped second and kept going to third when Rutschman’s throw skipped into center. Rookie George Lombard Jr. singled for his first postseason RBI, Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled and Trent Grisham loaded the bases with a bunt single.
Wells' sacrifice fly against Garrett Whitlock increased the lead to 4-1, Ryan McMahon hit an RBI groundout and Rice, who had four hits and six RBIs in the opener, was intentionally walked. Bellinger reached down and pulled a changeup into the right-center field seats.
Fried struck out six and walked one. He has allowed one run over 12 1/3 innings in the two Wild Card Series against the Red Sox.
“Definitely wasn’t sharp from the get-go but just wanted to challenge them, not try to give any free passes, especially in the first inning," Fried said.
After a night of celebration and a day off, the Yankees will head to Florida on Friday.
“There’s just so much more to do,” Bellinger said after the big night with his father on hand. “So obviously enjoy the moment, understand how cool it is, but keep on going.”
New York RHP Gerrit Cole (10-9, 3.61), who would have started a third game against Boston, is likely to start Game 1 against the Rays.
See AP’s full MLB coverage here
New York Yankees' Cody Bellinger follows through on a three-run home run during the sixth inning against the Boston Red Sox in Game 2 of baseball's American League Wild Card Series, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Yankees starting pitcher Max Fried reacts during the fifth inning in Game 2 of baseball's American League Wild Card Series against the Boston Red Sox, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. reacts after hitting a single against the Boston Red Sox during the sixth inning in Game 2 of baseball's American League Wild Card Series, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Yankees' Cody Bellinger, right, celebrates with teammate Luis García Jr., left, after hitting a three-run home run against the Boston Red Sox during the sixth inning in Game 2 of baseball's American League Wild Card Series, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Yankees' Luis García Jr. reacts after a single against the Boston Red Sox during the sixth inning in Game 2 of baseball's American League Wild Card Series, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
