Indian Pilot Injured In Cockpit Attack; Trump, Others Hail Him As A Hero
NEW DELHI – Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian pilot with Dubai-based flydubai, has been credited with helping avert a potentially serious mid-air disaster after he was allegedly stabbed by his co-pilot during a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv.
Flight FZ1073, carrying 174 passengers, was diverted to Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia after the alleged altercation in the cockpit. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the co-pilot attacked Machchhar and attempted to interfere with the aircraft’s controls.
Machchhar, despite being injured, reportedly opened the cockpit door, allowing a crew member and passengers to enter and restrain the other pilot. The aircraft experienced a sharp loss of altitude during the struggle before control was restored and the flight was diverted to Saudi Arabia, where it landed safely.
All 174 passengers were reported safe. Both pilots were taken for medical treatment, with the Indian Embassy in Riyadh saying Machchhar was in stable condition and receiving treatment at a hospital in Tabuk.
President Donald Trump later called Machchhar a “hero” while recounting an account of the incident that he said he had received during a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump said the account indicated that the co-pilot had stabbed Machchhar and that the injured captain then opened the cockpit door, enabling people aboard the aircraft to intervene.
An Israeli passenger reportedly entered the cockpit and helped pull the alleged attacker away from the controls before other pilots and security personnel took over. Trump said the passenger had told him he had watched the television program ‘Air Disasters’ and had learned some information about aircraft from it.
Trump cautioned that he could not independently confirm the account he had been given.
“Now, this is the story that I heard. I don’t know if it’s true, but that’s the story that I got from Bibi,” Trump said.
Asked whether the co-pilot intended to crash the aircraft, Trump said the motive had not been established.
“They said he wanted to crash. They don’t know that. They don’t know that kind of information,” he said.
The Indian Embassy in Riyadh and the Consulate General of India in Jeddah said they were closely monitoring Machchhar’s condition and were in contact with his family and Saudi authorities.
“We hope that he recovers from his injuries at the earliest,” the embassy said.
Machchhar has flown with flydubai since June 2022, following more than a decade with Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet, where he served as a line-training captain and senior commander. He has more than 13 years of commercial aviation experience and nearly 10,000 hours flying Boeing 737 aircraft.
He joined SpiceJet in 2011 before moving to flydubai as a direct-entry captain. Before entering aviation, Machchhar had initially pursued studies connected to his family’s textile business before undergoing pilot training in New Zealand. (IANS)
