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Indian Pilot Hailed as Hero for Averting Disaster on flydubai Flight FZ1073
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News18•30-09-2026, 21:15
Indian Pilot Hailed as Hero for Averting Disaster on flydubai Flight FZ1073
- •An Indian pilot, Captain Smit Machchhar, was stabbed and severely wounded aboard flydubai flight FZ1073, which made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
- •The incident involved an altercation between two pilots, with the Indian national reportedly intervening to prevent an alleged attempt to crash the plane.
- •Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that evidence indicates the flydubai pilot stabbed his fellow pilot with an intention to crash the plane, calling it an ‘extremely serious security incident’.
- •Netanyahu praised the ‘heroes’ who saved lives, including an Israeli passenger and a crew member who stopped the pilot from damaging the plane’s systems.
- •Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz described the event as an ‘attempted jihadist terrorist attack thwarted only through the bravery of several Israeli passengers’.
Key Questions Answered
The pilot who was stabbed and severely wounded aboard flydubai flight FZ1073 is an Indian national named Captain Smit Machchhar, who is based in Dubai.
The Tel Aviv-bound flydubai flight made an emergency landing at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia following an altercation between the two pilots in the cockpit.
An Israeli passenger and a crew member managed to stop the pilot as he was attempting to damage the aircraft's systems, while another crew member entered the cockpit to stabilise the plane.
