‘Out of harm’s way’: Pilot feted for helping save lives of everyone aboard flydubai flight

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Indian pilot Smit Machchhar for saving passengers after he was stabbed by his colleague in an alleged attempt to crash a flydubai plane on Wednesday.

Passengers on the flight reached Israel safely on Wednesday after customers and crew foiled the copilot’s attempt to crash the aircraft, Israeli officials said. The struggle began when he stabbed the pilot and sent the jet plunging nearly 14,000 feet (4,267 m) in less than 30 seconds.

Machchhar was covered with blood on the floor when he managed to draw on “the last moments of his energy” to click open the release on the cockpit door, according to Netanyahu’s spokesperson Doron Spielman. That allowed passengers and crew to overpower the copilot and enable a second pair of flydubai pilots who were on board to land the jet in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

“He saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals,” Netanyahu said in a post on X. “All passengers are out of harm’s way,” Netanyahu had earlier said in a video statement released by his office.

In a post on X early Thursday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded Machchhar, calling him a “hero.”

“In the face of the gravest danger and despite being seriously injured, he showed immense courage and an unwavering resolve to protect the lives of others. His valor helped save hundreds of lives and avert a great tragedy,” Modi said.

Indian authorities in Saudi Arabia said Machchhar was receiving necessary medical attention in a hospital in the northwestern city of Tabuk and they were in touch with his family and Saudi authorities to extend all possible help.

He was reported to be stable, the Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia said in a post on X.

Machchhar, who hails from India’s financial capital Mumbai, underwent surgery after the incident, Indian newspaper the Hindustan Times reported.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Machchhar worked with India’s SpiceJet airline for over 11 years before joining flydubai.

Flydubai said in a statement that the underlying reasons for the event remained unknown and warned against “premature speculation.” It also suspended flights to and from Israel amid an investigation.

Netanyahu described the event as “a highly severe security incident,” and said Saudi authorities would interrogate the copilot of flydubai FZ1073, which had been en route from the United Arab Emirates to Israel.

“The attacking pilot is now being investigated Saudi Arabia. I think he’ll be taken to the Emirates where he comes from — or at least where he flew off from,” Netanyahu said during an interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News. “We’ll be following and also possibly participating in this investigation.”

Netanyahu said he did know “the exact background” of the copilot, “but he obviously hated Israelis.”

“That is fanaticism and hatred of an incalculable level,” the premier said.

According to Netanyahu, the attacker might have hit the captain with an axe. Airlines are generally required to carry crash axes in the cockpit for use in an emergency to break open a window to escape or break open a panel to access a fire.

The copilot was earlier identified by an Israeli official as a national of Oman, which has no diplomatic relations with Israel, though Channel 12 news reported that he was among dozens of Omani pilots for flydubai who have nevertheless flown to Israel in recent years.

The network, which did not cite a source, said officials were looking into whether Israeli authorities had been aware of the Omani crew members flying into Israel.

Asked by Fox if there was any indication of Iranian involvement in the attack, Netanyahu responded, “It’s too early to say.”

Netanyahu also appeared on CNN, saying that Machchhar and those who stormed the cockpit to overtake the attacker “managed to prevent a 9/11 disaster.”

“That’s what it looks like was happening as far as the specific motivations of this,” Netanyahu told the US cable network.

It was not immediately clear if Netanyahu was suggesting the copilot’s goal was to fly the plane into a building after attacking the pilot. The premier was earlier told by one of the Israelis who stormed the cockpit that the copilot was “trying to destroy the controls in order to disable the plane,” which at the time was over Saudi Arabia.

Netanyahu commented on his phone call with US President Donald Trump, who he hold “about this amazing, amazing act of heroism that saved a disaster that would have been not only a disaster for Israel, but you can imagine how it could affect the global aviation.”

“What distinguishes this incident from the other tragic attacks was at this time, the good guys won,” the prime minister added.

He also said there was no prior intelligence about the attack.

In his own remarks after their call, Trump said the copilot “was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack-job.”

Trump said he was told by Netanyahu and others about how a plumber on board managed to take level out the plane after it began nosedive.

“I don’t know if it’s true, but that’s the story that I got from Bibi and from a couple of other people,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, referring to Yaniv Hayun, a detail the prime minister confirmed to Fox.

“They said [the pilot] wanted to crash the plane, but they don’t have that kind of information,” Trump further said.