Indian envoy to UAE meets flydubai pilot Smit Machchhar, says he is recovering well

Indian ambassador to the UAE Deepak Mittal on Thursday said he was "very reassured" to meet Captain Smit Machchhar, who is "in good health and recovering well" after sustaining serious injuries while foiling an alleged attempt by his co-pilot to crash a flydubai flight.

Machchhar was stabbed and seriously injured by his co-pilot in the cockpit of Flydubai flight FZ1073, travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, on Wednesday.

The plane carrying 174 people was forced to make an emergency landing in Tabuk in northwest Saudi Arabia.

Also Read | flydubai co-pilot was ‘religious extremist’, ‘refused to shake hands with women’, says colleague

"Very reassured to meet Capt Smit. Thank the UAE government for their support and medical care being extended," Mittal said in a social media post.

"We are proud of Capt Smit for his bravery to save so many lives and avert a tragedy," he said in another post on X.

He earlier met the pilot's family and conveyed full support of the Government of India in ensuring the welfare and well-being of the "Indian Hero."

It is understood that Machchhar was shifted to the UAE, a day after he was admitted to a hospital in Tabuk city in northwest Saudi Arabia to receive necessary medical attention.

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Separately, the Indian mission in the UAE on Thursday said Ambassador Mittal visited Captain Machchhar and his family at the hospital.

"Captain Machchhar is in good health and recovering well," it said, adding that the Embassy "remains in close coordination with local authorities to ensure his continued medical care and well-being."

On Wednesday night, the Indian Embassy in Riyadh said that the pilot is "admitted in a hospital in Tabuk city in northwest Saudi Arabia and receiving necessary medical attention". He was "reported to be in stable condition," it added.

Passengers on the flight reached Israel safely on Wednesday after the copilot's attempt to crash the aircraft was foiled.

Also Read | Netanyahu says Omani flydubai co-pilot underwent ‘Islamist radical indoctrination’; claims screening ‘loophole’ let him fly to Israel

The co-pilot, identified by Israeli officials as an Omani national, stabbed Machchhar and sent the jet plunging nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds.

Machchhar was covered with blood on the floor when he managed to draw on "the last moments of his energy" to click open the release on the cockpit door, The Times of Israel reported, quoting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesperson Doron Spielman.

That allowed passengers and crew to overpower the copilot and enable a second pair of flydubai pilots who were on board to land the jet in Tabuk, the report said.

Netanyahu, in a statement, has hailed Machchhar as a "true hero".