- Indian pilot Smit Machchhar stabbed, prevented alleged crash attempt.
- Flydubai flight FZ1073 made emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
- Co-pilot arrested after altercation, passengers reached Israel safely.
Who Is Smit Machchhar: The pilot who was stabbed and severely wounded aboard a flydubai flight that made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia was an Indian national, according to Israel’s i24 News.
The pilot has been identified as Smit Machchhar, who reportedly got into an altercation with his co-pilot while attempting to prevent an alleged attempt to crash the plane. Flydubai Flight FZ1073 made an emergency landing at Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk airport after a violent fight between the pilots left Machchhar drenched in blood.
Meanwhile, the flydubai rescue flight from Saudi Arabia has landed at Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel, carrying passengers from the earlier diverted flydubai flight, The Times of Israel reported.
The rescue flight carried around 180 passengers from the diverted Tel Aviv-bound flight, most of them Israelis.
The flight was diverted following an altercation in the cockpit and subsequently made an emergency landing at Tabuk airport.
The aircraft initially broadcast squawk code 7700, indicating an emergency, before switching to 7500, which signals a hijacking or unlawful interference. The 7500 signal prompted Israeli Air Force fighter jets to scramble towards the aircraft.
Who is Smit Machchhar?
Smit Machchhar joined Flydubai in June 2022 as a direct-entry captain and is currently based in Dubai. He previously worked as a pilot with SpiceJet. He has more than 13 years of commercial flying experience and has logged around 9,750 flying hours on Boeing 737 aircraft, including the B737-800 and B737 MAX 8/9, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He was associated with SpiceJet for 11 years, where he worked as a senior commander and later as a line training captain. His profile states that he logged more than 9,500 hours during his time with the airline, including over 6,400 hours as pilot-in-command. He also conducted line training, pilot checks and mentoring.
Machchhar has expertise in crew resource management, flight standards, compliance and Boeing 737 operations.
Israel calls it a severe disaster
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the evidence indicates that the flydubai pilot stabbed his fellow pilot. He claimed there was an intention to crash the plane.
A “severe disaster” was averted, an Israeli official said, as a flydubai flight travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing at Tabuk airport amid the altercation in the cockpit, Israel’s Channel 12 reported.
In a video statement, as reported by The Times of Israel, Netanyahu described the incident as “an extremely serious security incident".
He said that another crew member entered the cockpit and managed to stabilise the plane. He noted that Saudi Arabia’s authorities are interrogating the suspect.
Netanyahu said he “salutes the heroes” who saved the lives of the passengers.