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Captain Smit Saved 174 Lives, But Why Did Omani Pilot Become Terrorist? Nadeem Khatib's Story
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News18•01-10-2026, 23:26
Captain Smit Saved 174 Lives, But Why Did Omani Pilot Become Terrorist? Nadeem Khatib's Story
- •Captain Smit Machhar thwarted a Flydubai hijacking attempt, saving 174 lives.
- •Three decades ago, US-trained pilot Nadeem Khatib abandoned aviation to become an Al-Badr terrorist.
- •Nadeem Khatib was a commercial pilot and flight instructor trained in America.
- •Khatib later went to Pakistan, joined Al-Badr, received weapons training, and engaged in terrorism in Kashmir.
- •The incidents highlight that education and career do not always shield against radicalization.
Key Questions Answered
Captain Smit Machhar risked his own life to thwart a terrifying attempt by an Omani co-pilot to hijack a Flydubai aircraft, successfully protecting the lives of 174 passengers.
Nadeem Khatib was born in Srinagar in 1967 and went to America in the early 1990s for commercial pilot training. He successfully worked as a flight instructor at a flying school in Georgia before abandoning his aviation career to join Pakistan-based Al-Badr.
After returning to Jammu and Kashmir to engage in armed activities, Nadeem Khatib was killed on February 21, 1999, in an encounter with security forces in the Gool area of the then Udhampur district when he was about 32 years old.
