Modi telephoned the family of captain Smit Machchhar, praising the Indian pilot stabbed in the cockpit of Flydubai FZ1073 on its Dubai-Tel Aviv run. Tributes from Netanyahu and Trump followed, framing survival of 174 people after a 15,000-foot plunge as averting a 9/11-style attack.
Coverage then reconstructed the attack: a crash axe as weapon, headphone cords and zip ties used by passengers including a plumber, dentist and banker to subdue the Omani co-pilot, Israeli jets scrambled, and Machchhar airlifted from Tabuk to Dubai. Focus shifted to motive, with Netanyahu calling the co-pilot radicalised and shouting kill me, the UAE opening a terror-link probe, and Trump suggesting a possible Iran connection.
Elsewhere India beat Sri Lanka to set an Asian Games cricket final against Pakistan and edged Pakistan 4-3 in hockey, while eight Pune students drowned at Diveagar beach and the Sensex fell over 1,000 points.