NIA to seek Centre’s nod to travel to UAE for Captain Smit Machchhar's statement in flydubai probe

The agency may also seek access to the arrested Omani co-pilot – Hamam al-Hammami – for questioning, the officials said.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will soon approach the Centre to seek permission for a team to travel to the UAE to record the statement of Indian pilot Smit Machchhar and interact with local investigators to obtain details of their findings in connection with last month’s hijacking attempt on Flydubai flight FZ-1073, officials aware of the details said.

Dubai Crown Prince and UAE Deputy Prime Minister Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum inquires about the health of Captain Smit Machchhar on October 3. (@HamdanMohammed X)

The agency may also seek access to the arrested Omani co-pilot – Hamam al-Hammami – for questioning, the officials added.

Since Machchhar is an Indian citizen, the federal anti-terror probe agency last week filed a case to investigate a “larger conspiracy” in the hijacking attempt. “The case is related to attack on an Indian national with an apparent attempt to hijack or crash the plane…and having regard to the gravity of the offence, its grave national and international ramifications, and the need to unearth the larger conspiracy, the matter requires investigation by NIA,” NIA’s First Information Report (FIR), filed last Friday and reviewed by HT, said.

On September 30, Machchhar was attacked with the cockpit’s crash axe by co-pilot al-Hammami who, according to UAE investigators, attempted to seize control of the Tel Aviv-bound plane. Despite suffering deep cuts to head and hands, Machchhar unlocked the cockpit door of flight FZ-1073, which had taken off from Dubai, allowing passengers and crew to overpower the attacker. A reserve crew on board then flew the Boeing 737 MAX 8, with 174 people on board, to an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

He is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital in the UAE.

“It’s a process since the incident has taken place on foreign soil. A NIA team will soon be sent to the UAE, after obtaining necessary permissions, to record Machchhar’s statement and to get details from the UAE investigators,” said a government official, who didn’t want to be named.

Hamad Saif al-Shamsi, attorney general of the UAE, said in a statement last week that al-Hammami was radicalised while studying in Australia. The attacker, al-Shamsi said, drew inspiration from the 9/11 terrorist attacks of 2001. After hijacking the plane, his target was the terminal at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.

Leaders from across the world, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, have praised Machchhar for averting a “9/11-like tragedy”. Israel last week announced it will honour Machchhar with the Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism for his “sheer bravery and sound professionalism” in averting a catastrophe.