‘Hero, pride of the nation’: Prime Minister praises Indian Captain Smit Machchhar for preventing aviation disaster

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar, who resisted his co-pilot’s alleged attempt to crash a Flydubai aircraft and helped save the lives of the passengers.

‘Captain Smit Machchhar is a HERO. In the face of the gravest danger and despite being seriously injured, he showed immense courage and an unwavering resolve to protect the lives of others. His valour helped save hundreds of lives and avert a great tragedy. India is proud of Captain Machchhar,’ PM Modi wrote in a post on X.

The Prime Minister also praised Machchhar’s determination to save the lives of 174 passengers despite being stabbed by the co-pilot. Modi said that his courage helped save hundreds of lives and avert a major disaster. He added that the nation is proud of Captain Machchhar and prayed for his speedy recovery.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump had also praised Smit Machchhar. Netanyahu saluted Machchhar’s bravery, congratulated him and wrote on X that he had prevented a major aviation disaster. Trump called Smit Machchhar a hero and wished him a speedy recovery on social media.

The co-pilot’s alleged intention was to crash the Flydubai aircraft that was travelling from Dubai to the Israeli city of Tel Aviv. Most of the passengers were Israeli citizens. During a confrontation in the cockpit, the Omani co-pilot attacked Smit Machchhar with a knife and allegedly attempted to crash the aircraft. The plane was subsequently diverted and made an emergency landing at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia.

The Boeing 737 that departed from Dubai at around 3:05 am on Wednesday suddenly descended from an altitude of 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet after two and a half hours. The emergency transponder code 7700 was transmitted, followed by code 7500, which is used to indicate a hijacking or unlawful interference. This led to speculation that the aircraft had been hijacked. When the 7700 code was transmitted again, concerns eased.

As the confrontation continued in the cockpit, some passengers seated in the front rows confronted the co-pilot. The passengers managed to remove him from the cockpit. Off-duty pilots who were travelling as passengers then took control of the aircraft and safely landed it.

The aircraft landed safely in Tabuk between 9:45 am and 9:50 am. Flydubai stated that another aircraft had been sent to transport the passengers to Tel Aviv. Israeli Minister Bezalel Smotrich alleged that the incident was an attempt to crash the aircraft.

Who is Captain Smit Machchhar?

Smit Machchhar of Mumbai has been working as a captain with Flydubai since 2022. He had previously worked with SpiceJet for around 11 years. With more than 13 years of experience in commercial aviation, Smit has over 9,750 hours of flying Boeing 737 aircraft.