Captain Smit Machchhar: The flydubai "Hero" Indian Pilot Who Saved 174 Lives

The man who bravely fought off his co-pilot, who allegedly tried to sabotage the plane's systems, is Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian citizen working with the lower-cost sister carrier of Emirates Airlines, flydubai.

Captain Machchhar has been working with flydubai for four years, according to his LinkedIn profile. Prior to this, he was working with SpiceJet for 10 years, a low-cost Indian airline.

He has over 13 years of commercial flying experience on the Boeing 737 fleet. He served as a line training captain extensively and has over 9,750 flying hours.

Captain Machchhar joined SpiceJet in 2011 and had served in several roles at the low-cost airline, including as a line training captain and a senior commander.

In June 2022, he quit SpiceJet and joined flydubai as a direct entry captain.

His brother, too, had recently joined flydubai.

What Happened On flydubai Flight

Flight FZ 1073 was heading from Dubai International (DXB) to Ben Gurion International Airport on Wednesday morning when an altercation broke out on the flight deck, according to flydubai.

Cruising mid-air, a pilot tried to sabotage the plane's system, said Benjamin Netanyahu in a video statement. Captain Machchhar tried to fight him off but was stabbed.

"During the flight, as the aircraft was approaching Israel, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot and attempted to crash the plane with everyone on board," he said. However, a crew member and a passenger broke into the cockpit and "subdued" the suspect.

The aircraft dropped over 17,400 feet over two minutes during the cockpit struggle, but Netanyahu said a crew member entered the cockpit and stabilised the aircraft.

The aircraft was forced to divert and safely land at an airport in Saudi Arabia. All the passengers are safe, while the suspect has been arrested and is being questioned by the Saudis.

Who Were The Passengers?

Israel's foreign ministry said the people on board were from Israel, India and the United Arab Emirates. The US State Department said four passengers had American citizenship.

FlyDubai said its flights to and from Israel would be suspended while an investigation takes place. Netanyahu said that he spoke with the UAE's president, who agreed that Israel would join the interrogation of the suspect.

Netanyahu had warned in recent days of unspecified, heightened security threats. The country is a week away from the anniversary of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which has triggered a series of wars.