On his professional profile listing his decade of experience as a commercial pilot, Capt. Smit Machchhar emphasized his “strong focus on safety.”
That was needed on Wednesday, when he found himself at the center of a cockpit drama high in the skies. Officials say his co-pilot attacked him and repeatedly stabbed him, with the apparent intention of crashing a plane with more than 170 passengers onboard, traveling from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to Tel Aviv.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India called the captain a “hero” and said in a statement on X that his “valor helped save hundreds of lives and avert a great tragedy.”
“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,” Mr. Modi said.
Praise for his lifesaving actions also came from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.
“Despite being stabbed and seriously injured, he fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker — preventing a catastrophic midair disaster,” Mr. Netanyahu said.
After the passengers and crew members subdued the assailant, the plane made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
The captain is “reported to be in stable condition” and undergoing treatment at a hospital in Tabuk city, in the northwest of the country, India’s embassy in Saudi Arabia said on X.
“We are in touch with his family and assure them that we will continue to follow up on his health with Saudi authorities and extend all possible assistance for his well-being,” the embassy said.
The captain’s family lives in Ghatkopar East, a suburb of Mumbai, according to Parag Shah, the local legislator from the area. Mr. Shah said by telephone that the captain’s parents were flown to Saudi Arabia early Thursday.
On his LinkedIn profile, Mr. Machchhar lists 13 years of commercial aviation experience. He spent the early part of his career at India’s SpiceJet, in Mumbai, where he worked as a senior commander and a line training captain. He joined FlyDubai in 2022.
He had initially planned to join the family’s textile business, he said on a podcast last year. It was while studying for a management degree, with the aim of helping grow the business, that he came across an aviation seminar.
“That is where the aviation bug bit me,” he said on the podcast.
He said his mother had been reluctant to accept his career; but as India’s aviation industry grew rapidly over the past decade, it helped ease his choice.
“The aviation now and 15 to 17 years ago was completely different,” he said. “You didn’t hear a lot of people becoming pilots, no one had any idea how to do it. So first of all, that was something that scared my mom — and of course, the flying bit.”
Hari Kumar contributed reporting.
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