Flydubai captain recounts fight with attacking co-pilot after mid-air incident
Captain Smit Machchhar said he resisted a violent attack by a fellow crew member on flight FZ 1073, allowing passengers to intervene and the aircraft to land safely; he is recovering from serious injuries.
Captain Smit Machchhar told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a video call on Friday that he fought an assault by a co-pilot on flight FZ 1073, which was en route to Tel Aviv when the incident occurred on Wednesday. He said he was severely wounded and fell to the cockpit floor, but continued to resist because he could not "let everybody else die."
According to Machchhar, passengers entered the cockpit and restrained the attacker, enabling the stand-in pilots to regain control and divert the plane for an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia before it was taken to a hospital in Abu Dhabi.
Modi praised Machchhar’s actions, saying his "courage, patience and quick thinking… saved the lives of many people." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also commented that the pilot’s actions averted a larger disaster.
Machchhar, a father of two, is being treated for extensive blood loss and other injuries. He expressed pride in his response during the call and apologized for becoming emotional while speaking with Modi.