[Full video below.] Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro has sharply criticized media coverage of the near-catastrophe aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073, accusing news organizations of dramatically understating an incident in which Israeli officials say a co-pilot stabbed the captain and apparently attempted to crash an aircraft carrying 174 passengers, most of them Israelis.

Reviewing the extraordinary episode on his program, Shapiro argued that descriptions of what happened as a cockpit “scuffle” or altercation bore little resemblance to passenger accounts and the version of events subsequently presented by Israeli officials.

“A couple of hours into the flight between Dubai and Tel Aviv, the Omani pilot, who was the co-pilot, repeatedly stabbed the Indian pilot and then attempted to take control of the plane and crash it directly into the ground.”

Flydubai Flight FZ1073, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, was carrying 174 passengers when the crisis erupted Wednesday. The flight ultimately made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Flight-tracking data showed the aircraft descending dramatically from approximately 33,000 feet to around 17,000 feet in roughly a minute during the crisis. Passengers described a terrifying plunge accompanied by intense G-forces as panic spread through the cabin.

Passenger accounts indicate that Captain Smit Machchhar was attacked and stabbed by the co-pilot inside the cockpit. Despite his wounds, Machchhar managed to unlock the reinforced cockpit door, making it possible for others aboard the aircraft to intervene.

Shapiro highlighted the frantic intervention that followed.

“The crew member and passengers, mostly passengers, break down the cockpit door, get inside, and subdue the attacker.”

Passengers who later described the incident said several people rushed toward the cockpit after realizing something had gone terribly wrong. They eventually managed to overpower the alleged attacker and remove him from the controls.

“All credit goes to the passengers. The passengers stormed the cockpit. They get the pilot out, and then they get the co-pilot out as well.”

Passenger Zvika Meness later said that he and two other passengers jumped into the struggle and helped neutralize the attacker. According to his account, they restrained him using zip ties and headphones available aboard the aircraft.

Yaniv Hayun, another Israeli passenger who played a central role in the rescue, said the wounded captain was near the cockpit entrance and that the attacker appeared to be attempting to disable the aircraft. Hayun helped overpower the co-pilot and then attempted to stabilize the plane.

A doctor traveling aboard the flight, Dr. Shota Musayev, turned his attention to the badly injured captain and helped treat his wounds until the aircraft could land and additional medical care became available.

Two additional Flydubai pilots who were traveling aboard the aircraft were also able to assist after the attacker was subdued, helping regain control of the plane and bring it safely to the ground in Saudi Arabia.

Machchhar underwent surgery following the stabbing and was reported Thursday to be in stable condition. Israeli and Indian officials have praised the captain for continuing to fight despite his injuries and for opening the cockpit door, an action that allowed passengers and crew members to reach the cockpit.

Shapiro argued that the composition of the passenger cabin may have played a crucial role in the extraordinary response.

“If you are on a plane and it is filled with 174 Israelis, the likelihood that there are some people on that plane who are militarily trained and experienced is basically 100%. The likelihood that there is a doctor on that plane is also basically 100%. The likelihood that there are people willing and ready to help is extremely high.”

The passengers included numerous Israelis with military experience, as well as medical professionals and individuals who immediately joined the effort to subdue the attacker, assist the wounded and regain control of the aircraft.

Shapiro said the consequences of a successful attack would have extended far beyond the deaths of those aboard.

“This wasn’t just a human tragedy that was prevented,” Shapiro said. “What was prevented here was an international crisis, because this could have been a crisis that involved Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, India and potentially every country in the region.”

The international dimensions of the incident are unusually complicated. The aircraft was operated by a UAE-based airline, the accused co-pilot has been identified as an Omani national, the wounded captain is Indian, most of the passengers were Israeli, and the aircraft ultimately landed in Saudi Arabia, a country that does not maintain formal diplomatic relations with Israel.

The incident also triggered an immediate security response in Israel. Israeli fighter jets were scrambled as authorities monitored the aircraft, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz held emergency consultations as the crisis unfolded.

The aircraft reportedly transmitted both the general aviation emergency code 7700 and code 7500, which indicates unlawful interference with an aircraft.

Early reports of the incident were considerably more cautious, with several accounts describing what occurred as a fight, altercation or “scuffle” between the two pilots. As additional passenger testimony, video footage and statements from Israeli officials emerged, a far more serious picture developed.

It was that discrepancy that drew Shapiro’s strongest criticism.

“The way the media coverage of this is happening is insane,” he said. “Completely insane, to call this a ‘scuffle in the cockpit.’ If you can read a news headline and understand the exact opposite of what happened, that’s a failure of the media.”

Some major news organizations subsequently reported Israeli officials’ assertion that the co-pilot stabbed the captain and attempted to crash the aircraft, while continuing to note that the investigation remained underway and that the attacker’s motive had not been conclusively established.

Flydubai has similarly cautioned against drawing conclusions before investigators determine precisely what occurred, saying that the circumstances and motive behind the incident remain under formal investigation.

Shapiro also acknowledged that the evidence currently available does not establish why the co-pilot allegedly carried out the attack or whether anyone else was involved.

“We still don’t know the political motivation,” Shapiro said, adding that authorities would need to determine whether there had been any outside coordination.

Netanyahu has likewise said that investigators have not yet determined whether the incident was connected to Iran, a terrorist organization or another motive. The prime minister said the available evidence appeared to indicate an attempt to destroy the aircraft rather than a conventional hijacking, but stressed that the investigation must establish what drove the attacker.

The co-pilot was taken into custody by Saudi authorities after the emergency landing, and officials from several countries are expected to participate in the investigation.

The episode has also raised new questions about aviation security, particularly the danger posed when a potential attacker is already authorized to be inside a reinforced cockpit. Security measures introduced after the September 11 attacks were designed largely to prevent unauthorized individuals from entering cockpits, making an attack originating inside one a substantially different security challenge.

Flydubai temporarily suspended service to and from Israel following the incident as the investigation proceeded.

After the aircraft landed safely in Tabuk, the passengers were eventually transferred to another Flydubai aircraft and flown to Israel, where several of those involved in overpowering the attacker were greeted as heroes.

For Shapiro, however, the story was not only about the passengers who helped save the aircraft. It was also about how an extraordinary event involving an alleged stabbing, a massive midair plunge and passengers storming a cockpit could initially reach readers under descriptions that, in his view, made the episode sound like little more than an argument between pilots.

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{Matzav.com}