Sometimes a piece of news does not need evidence to be believed. It just needs to sound convincing enough.
On September 30, a Flydubai plane, flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv, was forced to divert and make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. There were 174 people on board. A serious incident occurred in the cockpit, the plane suddenly lost altitude, a general emergency code was issued, and subsequently a code 7500, used for illegal interference in a flight. The plane eventually lands safely in Tabuk.
So far, the facts are dramatic enough on their own.
But then comes the version that the two pilots in the cockpit are a Russian and a Ukrainian and that they fought during the flight.
It's the perfect news for the era we live in.
A Russian and a Ukrainian. In a plane. Over the Middle East. In the midst of war. The fight reaches the cockpit. The plane loses control. Fighter jets take off.
The story is so "perfect" that it almost leaves no room for the most important question: Is it true?
The truth turns out to be completely different
The captain of the flight is Smith Machchhar - an Indian citizen, originally from Mumbai. He is a long-time professional pilot who previously worked for the Indian airline SpiceJet before joining Flydubai.
It was Macchhar who was attacked and stabbed in the cockpit by his co-pilot.
The co-pilot, according to the Associated Press and Israeli authorities, is an citizen of Oman. He was detained after landing in Saudi Arabia. The exact motives for his actions are still being investigated.
That is, there is no Russian or Ukrainian among the pilots.
There is also no confirmation of the initial version that the conflict in the cabin was between representatives of the two countries that are waging war in Ukraine.
And here the story becomes even more telling.
How was the “Russian-Ukrainian“ plot?
In the first hours after the incident, the Israeli television channel N12 reported that the pilot was of Russian origin, and the second pilot - Ukrainian. The information was quickly picked up by other media outlets. Reuters also covered this initial version, explicitly presenting it as information from the Israeli media, and not as an established fact.
Later the picture changed.
Data about the Indian captain Smith Macchhar and the Omani co-pilot appeared. Reuters and AP have already described the incident as an attack on the Indian captain, after which passengers and crew members intervened and helped bring the situation under control.
So one of the most impressive parts of the original plot simply disappears.
The Russian and the Ukrainian are gone.
And the person who was actually in the cabin?
The Indian.
Smith Macchhar was seriously injured, but according to accounts cited by Reuters and the AP, he managed to open the cockpit door. This allowed nearby passengers and crew members to enter and help subdue the attacker. Another crew member who was also on board then took over and the plane landed in Tabuk.
Machchhar was taken to hospital and is reported to be in stable condition.
And here is another detail that is hard to ignore.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has publicly called him a hero. US President Donald Trump has also praised him for his actions. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the captain saved the lives of 174 people.
So the real story is not “Russian and Ukrainian pilots fought in the cockpit“.
The true story is about an Indian captain attacked by his Omani co-pilot, who despite his serious injuries manages to help prevent a crash. The reasons for the attack remain under investigation.
How a mistake becomes “truth“
Here's the more interesting story.
It's not necessarily that someone made up the whole thing from scratch.
We have a real plane. A real incident. A real physical fight in the cockpit. A real sharp descent. A real accident code. Real landing in Saudi Arabia.
Add to that a misidentification of the pilots and you have a story that seems perfectly logical.
And that's exactly the danger.
Disinformation doesn't always look like absurd fabrications. Sometimes it seems like truth, assembled from real pieces.
Why did we believe so easily?
Because we already have a ready-made plot in our heads.
Russia and Ukraine are at war. That's why a conflict between Russian and Ukrainian pilots sounds “normal“. It doesn't need to be proven — it is enough to fit into the pre-constructed picture.
This is one of the mechanisms of the information age: a person increasingly does not check whether a piece of information is true, but whether it seems plausible to him.
And there is a huge difference between the two things.
In the case of Flydubai, this difference is measured in hours.
In a few hours, a sensational version traveled the information space. Then data began to emerge that changed it significantly.
But the internet doesn't have a "delete" button.
Once a loud version is published, it stays. It is copied, quoted, translated, appears on social networks and gradually begins to look like an established fact.
Global madness or deliberate disinformation?
It is probably too early to say.
At the moment, there is not enough evidence that the initial version about Russian and Ukrainian pilots was part of a deliberate information operation.
But there is enough reason to say something else: it was unverified and turns out false.
The official investigation has yet to establish the motives of the Omani co-pilot and the exact sequence of events. Flydubai also urged against jumping to conclusions.
And perhaps that is the most important lesson from the case.
In a world where news competes with the speed of social media, the first question should not be “Who did it?“, “Is he Russian?“ or “Is he Ukrainian?“.
The first question should be much simpler:
“How do we know this?“
Sources: Reuters, Associated Press (AP), WAM (Emirates News Agency)