Tel Aviv, Oct. 1 -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Captain Smit Machchhar, the Indian pilot of flydubai flight FZ1073, for saving passengers after he was stabbed by his colleague in an alleged attempt to crash the plane on Wednesday.

Passengers on the flight reached Israel safely on Wednesday after passengers and crew foiled the copilot's attempt to crash the aircraft, Israeli officials said, as reported by The Times of Israel. The struggle began when the copilot stabbed the pilot and sent the jet plunging nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds.

Captain Machchhar was covered with blood on the floor when he managed to draw on "the last moments of his energy" to click open the release on the cockpit door, according t...