E-Paper
Israel's Netanyahu hails Indian pilot Smit Machchar's heroics in saving 174 lives aboard flydubai aircraft
Netanyahu praised Indian pilot Capt. Smit Machchar’s bravery in the flydubai incident. Machchar opened the cockpit door saving 174 lives.
Prefer HTon Google
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid tribute to Indian pilot Smit Machchar's "extraordinary bravery" for opening the cockpit door on time despite being stabbed by his Omani co-pilot mid-air.
Machchar's co-pilot attacked him intending to crash the Flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday, September 30 evening. Despite being stabbed and seriously injured, Machchar opened the locked cockpit door, which allowed passengers and crew to overpower the co-pilot.
Two flydubai pilots who were on the flight as passengers took control of the aircraft and landed it safely in Saudi Arabia's Tabuk. Apart from Machchar, all other crew members and passengers are safe.
Deep Dive
The flight had Israelis and passengers from other countries. Israel's PM Netanyahu had earlier described it as "a highly severe security incident." Later, in a separate post, Netanyahu paid tribute to the "extraordinary bravery" of "true hero" Captain Smit Machchar.
"My salute to the Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar for his extraordinary bravery," Netanyahu wrote. "Despite being stabbed and seriously injured, he fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door, and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker — preventing a catastrophic mid-air disaster.
"He saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals. I wish Captain Machchhar a speedy and full recovery. He is a true hero."
Netanyahu also met the passenger who entered the cockpit and took control of the aircraft. Yaniv Hayoun, the passenger, told Netanyahu that he put the attacking co-pilot in a chokehold and dragged him out of the cockpit before taking over the plane's control.
“There were no pilots in the seats: one was on the floor, one was on the panel,” Hayoun said. “I called out to a bunch of Israelis on board, and two other guys came over. We pinned him down. I jumped back, grabbed the controls, and started pulling back the handles.”
When Netanyahu asked how he was able to take control of the aircraft, the passenger said he watches the TV show Air Crash Investigations.
Captain Smit Machchar's ‘extraordinary bravery’
The incident is being probed by flydubai along with other investigating authorities. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Saudi officials have questioned the Omani co-pilot.
Preliminary reports indicate that Captain Smit Machhar managed to open the cockpit door before he collapsed. After that, the two flydubai pilots took control of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 and landed it safely at Tabuk Airport.
Captain Machchar parents have travelled to Tabuk to tend to their ailing son. Sources revealed that Captain Machchar's brother also joined flydubai as a pilot recently, but he is yet to start flying.
Also read: ‘Heard screams, saw blood, someone stabbed pilot’: Passengers recall flydubai flight horror
flydubai suspends Tel Aviv flights amid probe
flydubai announced that they are suspending their 10 daily scheduled flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv for the next six days as the incident is investigated. A spokesperson for flydubai said in a statement that the suspension is temporary and “will allow relevant authorities to continue their work and establish all the facts.”
"We remain in close coordination with government authorities, regulators and airport stakeholders and will review the suspension as more information becomes available," the flydubai spokesperson said.
"We apologise to passengers whose travel plans have been affected and are working to provide support and alternative arrangements where possible."
