Who is Smit Machchhar, the “hero” pilot of the diverted Flydubai flight?

Smit Machchhar, who is native to India, was considered a “hero” by members of the Israeli government after the flight where the commander was diverted to Saudi Arabia. The copilot, remember, will have tried to cause the plane to crash. 

According to the Indian press, Smit Machchhar is an experienced Indian commander and former Spicejet pilot.

Several reports report that Smit has more than 13 years of experience in commercial flights and approximately 9,750 hours of flight, and more than 6,400 hours were accumulated as pilot in command. 

Before joining Flydubai, the pilot worked for about 11 years at Spicejet, an Indian airline. As early as 2022, he started working as a pilot at the Dubai airline. 

Smit Machchhar was stabbed by the copilot during a commercial flight connecting Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to Tel Aviv in Israel. After landing, the pilot was transported to a hospital unit and submitted to surgery, and the latest information indicates that the state of health is stable. 

According to media reports, Smit Machchhar has unlocked the cabin door, allowing passengers to enter and immobilize the copilot who would be trying to get the plane to crash. 

“He saved 174 people’s lives”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, praised the courage of the Indian pilot, stressing the “extraordinary courage” of Smit Machchhar.

“ I greet the Indian pilot, Commander Smit Machchhar, for his extraordinary courage. Although he was stabbed and seriously injured, he reacted (...), thus avoiding an aerial catastrophe. Saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli and national citizens from other countries,” Netanyahu said on social network X.

Also the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through a note on social network X, praised the pilot, calling him “hero”. 

“Commander Smit Machchhar, the Indian pilot of Flydubai Flight 1073, fought back after being stabbed in the cabin. Although he was seriously injured, he managed to unlock the cabin door – which allowed Israeli passengers and cabin crew to intervene and save all passengers,” he said.

It should also be remembered that Flydubai passengers landed in Tel Aviv at 4:41 p.m. According to the first reports, they were relieved that they had reached their destination safe and sound, although many of them confessed that they thought they were going to die. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Yaniv Hayoun, one of the passengers who had immobilized the alleged aggressor, at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel.

At the meeting with Netanyahu, Hayoun detailed how he and the passengers managed to immobilize the alleged attacker. 

“ When I came in, I saw the terrorist in control. I grabbed him, immobilized him and dragged him out of there,” Hayoun told the Israeli Prime Minister. 

During the conversation, he also described the attempt to enter the cabin, explaining that he found the pilot stabbed against the door and that he saw the copilot on the panel between the two seats. 

“There were no pilots in the seats. One was on the floor, another on the panel”, said, quoted by CNN International, adding that he and other Israelis managed to immobilize the suspect.