As flydubai hero Smit Machchhar recovers in Dubai, family in India juggles pride, worry and a swelling crowd

As he peers outside the window at the gathered media, well-wishers and passersby, Haresh V Machchhar looks wary. Ever since his hero nephew, commercial Indian airline pilot Smit Machchhar, was wounded while thwarting a mid-air cockpit attack on a flydubai flight on Wednesday, the crowds outside – both at his house in Ghatkopar and his nephew’s house in Chembur – have been swelling.

And as much as he’s proud of Smit, the family is now exhausted by the endless stream of visitors.

“We have been hounded by television media since Wednesday evening,” Haresh says. “They gathered in large numbers with mics and cameras, without asking us whether we were ready to talk. They started shooting us, taking our photos and streaming us live, and stayed throughout the night. It’s been a nuisance. Yes, we’re all proud of him, but we’re more concerned and worried about his recovery.”

Smit, who was serving as the captain of flydubai Flight FZ1073 travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv with 174 passengers and crew on board, was injured when his co-pilot allegedly attacked and repeatedly stabbed him inside the cockpit mid-flight. Quick to react despite his grievous injury,  Smit unlocked the cockpit door, allowing passengers to overpower the co-pilot and safely land the plane.

The housing complex where Machchhar’s parents live. (Express photo by Amit Chakravarty)

Smit is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital in Dubai.

His actions have drawn praise from world leaders – while Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed his courage and quick thinking as having ‘saved us from another 9/11-like incident’, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu called him a “true hero”.

Ever since the incident, the stream of well-wishers has been unabated – both at Smit’s Swastik Heights CHS home in Chembur and his uncle Haresh’s home at Arvind, the Prabhita CHS in Ghatkopar. But beyond the media shutters and the chattering crowds is something bigger – fear for Smit’s well-being and prayers for his recovery.

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Even as crowds gathered outside their home on Thursday morning, Smit’s parents, Upendra and Geeta Machchhar, left for Dubai to be with their son.

“We’ve been in touch with them. Smit’s condition is stable now. He has been such a sweet, brave and courageous boy since he was a child. He would always help people around him. He would help older people cross the road even when he was barely 10,” says his aunt.

Smit, the son of a retired Gujarati businessman who owned a sari-making unit and a homemaker, spent several years in Ghatkopar. And while he now lives in Dubai with his wife and two children – an eight-year-old daughter and a two-year-old son – his parents now live in Chembur.

Smit’s cousin is a pilot too, Ashok Makwana, a neighbour of Smit’s parents, says.

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“The family received a call last night from the aviation company, and the entire society learnt about the incident through television news. He keeps visiting his parents whenever he can, and makes sure to come home during festivals,” he says.

To those who know him well, his actions come as no surprise. “Smit has always been like this – fearless and friendly. He wore his heart on his sleeves,” his friend and next-door neighbour Akshay Doshi says.

His teachers at Welingkar Institute in Matunga, where Smit studied the Post Graduate Programme in Business Administration in 2007, describe him as diligent. “He was also good when it came to academics. He got A grades, and he attended all his lectures,” Pankaj Natu, the institute’s director, says, while Shailesh Kale, who taught him marketing management, adds: “We are discussing the possibility of honouring him at the institute. It would send a very positive message to students”.

Outside the pilot’s house in Chembur, the adoration swells – Chembur corporator Susham Sawant has managed to bring together 100 people, including children, to hold posters with Machchhar’s photo and the words “courage, foresight and devotion to duty”.

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Smit should be honoured for his actions, Sawant says. He’s already planning a grand welcome for the hero-pilot. “We want Prime Minister Narendra Modi to award him with one of the country’s biggest honours for showing such bravery. Awarding him will motivate more children and the youth to be brave and always help people,” he says. “This Diwali is going to be grander for Chembur and Ghatkopar.”

Among the crowd is a Class 9 student. “I want to be like Smit when I grow up and save people,” he says.

As the news spread, friends and neighbours banded together at Prabhita CHS to help the family avoid media glare and offer some privacy. Among them was Smit’s friend Akshay Doshi.

“Aviation had always been Smit’s passion. He also has a small institute in Chembur to train youngsters and encourage them to pursue an aviation career,” Doshi says. “We’re now praying for his speedy recovery.”