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Meet the pilots who landed flydubai FZ1073 after the cockpit attack
Henson Steven, a Fijian pilot and former Fiji Airways pilot, and Rowan Tooth, a South African pilot from Kimberley, took control of flydubai FZ1073 after its captain was attacked on September 30 and landed it safely a... The UAE awarded the crew the First Class Order of Zayed II on October 27.
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- Henson Steven, a Fijian pilot and former Fiji Airways pilot, and Rowan Tooth, a South African pilot from Kimberley, took control of flydubai FZ1073 after its captain was attacked on September 30 and landed it safely a...
- The UAE awarded the crew the First Class Order of Zayed II on October 27. Public reporting identified Steven, Tooth and Kenyan cabin crew members David Kimotho and John Muchina; the sources do not establish details ab...
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openai.comCreate a landscape editorial hero image for this Studio Global article: Who were the off-duty Fijian and South African pilots who saved flydubai flight FZ1073 on September 30, what were their backgrounds and inte. Article summary: The two pilots were Henson Steven of Fiji and Rowan Tooth of South Africa, who took over after the attack on Captain Smit Machchhar and helped land flydubai FZ1073 safely in Saudi Arabia.[5][6] The available evidence sup. Topic tags: general, general web, user generated, news. Style: premium digital editorial illustration, source-backed research mood, clean composition, high detail, modern web publication hero. Use reference image context only for broad subject, composition, and topical grounding; do not copy the exact image. Avoid: logos, brand marks, copyrighted characters, real person likenesses, fake screenshots, UI text, readable text, watermarks, charts w
Henson Steven of Fiji and Rowan Tooth of South Africa were additional pilots aboard flydubai flight FZ1073 on September 30, 2026. After the captain was attacked in the cockpit, they took control and helped land the aircraft safely at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia. Reports said they had been scheduled to operate the return flight, not the Dubai–Tel Aviv leg.2
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Who were the two pilots?
Steven was a flydubai pilot and a former Fiji Airways pilot; Fijian reporting described him as a reserve pilot travelling on the aircraft.1
30 Tooth was a South African pilot from Kimberley. Reporting identified him as the son of late cricketer Barry Tooth and said he joined flydubai in 2023.
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Accounts described the pair as extra or relief pilots aboard the outbound flight, with the intended role of operating the return sector.2
7 They were not the primary pilots for the Dubai-to-Tel Aviv leg.
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How the rescue unfolded
The flight was travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv when, according to reports, the Omani co-pilot attacked Captain Smit Machchhar with the cockpit emergency axe while the aircraft was in Saudi airspace.8
41 UAE prosecutors later said the co-pilot intended to seize control and crash the plane into the passenger terminal at Ben Gurion Airport. Prosecutors also said the plan was inspired by the September 11 attacks; those statements are the authorities’ allegations, not a judicial finding established by the reporting cited here.
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The attack was followed by a rapid descent. One report, citing the UAE investigation, put it at about 4,900 metres (roughly 16,000 feet) in 30 seconds.41 Seriously injured, Machchhar managed to open the cockpit door, allowing crew and passengers to intervene. Passengers helped restrain the attacker, after which Steven and Tooth took control and brought the aircraft to a safe landing in Tabuk.
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The accounts cited here establish the landing at Tabuk but do not provide verified details about rudder damage or the passengers’ onward travel.
How the pilots and other crew were identified
The UAE’s award coverage referred to the flydubai crew collectively, while news reports identified individual recipients. Reporting in the pilots’ home countries named Steven and Tooth after the October 27 ceremony; coverage also identified Kenyan cabin-crew members David Kimotho and John Muchina as honorees.5
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17 Earlier reporting on Kimotho and Muchina described how they helped attend to the injured captain.
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These reports establish several names, not a complete independently confirmed roster of every person honored.
The October 27 honors
The crew received the First Class Order of Zayed II, conferred by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed presented the honors at the October 27 ceremony.13
46 Reports said the recognition was for the crew’s bravery and their actions to protect passengers.
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Captain Machchhar was also present at a reception with the crew after the incident; coverage showed him meeting the UAE president.34 The sources cited here do not provide a verified quotation about his recovery or the exact wording of remarks about the crew’s duty to protect human life.
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Henson Steven, a Fijian pilot and former Fiji Airways pilot, and Rowan Tooth, a South African pilot from Kimberley, took control of flydubai FZ1073 after its captain was attacked on September 30 and landed it safely a...
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Henson Steven, a Fijian pilot and former Fiji Airways pilot, and Rowan Tooth, a South African pilot from Kimberley, took control of flydubai FZ1073 after its captain was attacked on September 30 and landed it safely a... The UAE awarded the crew the First Class Order of Zayed II on October 27. Public reporting identified Steven, Tooth and Kenyan cabin crew members David Kimotho and John Muchina; the sources do not establish details ab...
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