ANTI-TERROR agency NIA has registered a case to probe and unearth the larger conspiracy behind last month’s mid-air attack on Captain Smit Machchhar inside the cockpit of an Israel-bound flydubai flight, officials said on Saturday. It was reported that on September 30, 2026, the Omani first officer of flydubai flight no 1073 stabbed the Indian pilot, Captain Machchhar, mid-air “in an apparent attempt to hijack or cause it to crash”, according to the First Information Report (FIR) filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on October 9. The FIR mentions the “Omani first officer” as the accused. The NIA has invoked Section 3 (hijacking) of the Anti Hijacking Act, 2016 and Section 16 read with Section 15(1)(a) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, officials said.