Captain Smit Machchhar has described trying to reopen the cockpit door while injured during an alleged assault aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073. He recounted the incident in a video call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to the BBC.

The Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight, carrying more than 170 passengers, lost over 17,000 feet before it diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Passengers restrained the attacker, and two reserve pilots aboard landed the aircraft. The BBC reported that Machchhar was treated in hospital and later described as stable.

The BBC, citing the UAE's state news agency, reports that authorities are investigating whether the incident was connected to terrorist activity. That is an investigative question, not a confirmed motive; the incident's cause remains subject to the inquiry.

Read the BBC's report and the captain's account.

Image: Md Shaifuzzaman Ayon / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. This archive photograph shows a Flydubai Boeing 737 at Dhaka; it is not the aircraft involved in flight FZ1073. Image details.