The incident involving the stabbing of an Indian pilot, Captain Smit Machchhar, has earned him accolades for the way he handled the situation while flying a plane of Flydubai from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday, September 30, 2026. Despite his wounds, Machchhar was able to open the cockpit door where his colleagues restrained the assailant.
The plane, Flydubai flight FZ1073, was able to land at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia. The stabbing incident has been termed by Israeli officials as a deliberate effort by the assailant to down the plane. Machchhar is said to be in good condition by the Indian Embassy.
According to Israeli authorities and reports from passengers, the co-pilot attacked Machchhar in the cockpit and attempted to cause a crash in the aircraft. The aircraft involved in the incident, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, fell about 17,000 feet within two minutes, according to one report.
According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who spoke to CBS News, Machchhar was either stabbed or struck with an axe, although the exact instrument used in the assault is yet to be established. Netanyahu also said that Machchhar "fought back, resisted, and opened the cockpit door," which enabled passengers and another crew member to take control of the co-pilot and had him arrested and interrogated by Saudi Arabian authorities.
Flydubai stated that the aircraft was "safely secured by on-duty Flydubai crew travelling on the flight and successfully landed at Tabuk Airport." Two off-duty pilots traveling as passengers reportedly helped in landing the aircraft.
In praise of the pilot's courage, Netanyahu referred to him as "a true hero" and said that his actions had saved all 174 passengers from death, thus avoiding a "disastrous mid-air catastrophe."
The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, too praised Machchhar on Twitter for his heroic actions. "Captain Smit Machchhar is a HERO," he tweeted. "He displayed immense courage and determination in the face of the most daunting threat and, despite being himself critically injured, safeguarded the lives of others. Such valor of Smit makes us proud." He added that he had talked to the pilot's wife, parents, and family members.
The President of India, Droupadi Murmu, expressed pride in Machchhar, praising his "courageous heroism and extraordinary presence of mind."
Gosalia, a long-time friend of Machchhar, says his immediate impression on learning about the incident was that the act was quite consistent with the character of the person he knew. As per Gosalia, Machchhar's coolness under pressure had been developed through years of training, which included advice from former Indian Air Force pilots who later shifted to civil aviation.
"How much courage is involved here? Smit has taught us courage," says Gosalia. According to Machchhar's LinkedIn page, the pilot had logged in well over 9,750 hours of flying experience, out of which he had piloted more than 6,400 hours himself.
A former flight instructor who had trained Machchhar in New Zealand back in 2008 was all praise for the pilot, as reported by CNN.
According to Machchhar’s neighbors and friends in Mumbai, he was a composed person who would always be helpful. This was long before Wednesday when he went ahead and carried out the attack.
“We have done all the mischief which is done by small kids,” a close friend, Pratik Gandhi, told AFP, referring to how Machchhar was always composed since his early years. “We did not expect any less from him—it did not come as a surprise.” Another neighbor, Laxmikant Joshi, stated, "We are proud of him for his nature, for his bravery."
Before being hired at Flydubai, Machchhar served with Indian Airlines called SpiceJet for eleven years, reaching the status of Senior Commander. “You are a hero to us all, Captain.”
In the wake of the attack, Machchhar had made some simple statements earlier regarding what being a pilot entails. When asked how he felt about his job in a podcast, his response was a single word: “Blessed.” He had previously commented about dealing with stress in the aviation business by saying, “Stressing is not going to help, at least in this industry.”
Surgery was performed on Machchhar on Wednesday, according to a local politician in his hometown and also according to the Indian embassy in Riyadh. Another plane from Flydubai was dispatched to bring back the remaining passengers to Israel.
The co-pilot, who is sometimes referred to as being from Oman, is in the custody of the Saudi government along with the Israeli authorities who are conducting an investigation into the incident. The incident has been labeled as a terror attack by the Israelidefense minister,r Israel Katz.
