Stabbed in the Cockpit: Indian Captain Smit Machchhar and the Fight to Save flydubai Flight FZ 1073
A flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was diverted to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after an altercation on the flight deck in which one pilot allegedly stabbed the other, according to the airline and Israeli officials. The captain of the aircraft, Smit Machchhar, an Indian citizen, is credited in official accounts with resisting the attack and helping to prevent the aircraft from crashing with 174 people on board.
The account of what happened comes largely from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who addressed the episode in a video statement, and from flydubai. Mr Netanyahu said that during the flight, as the aircraft approached Israel, one of the pilots stabbed the other and attempted to crash the plane with everyone on board. He said Captain Machchhar tried to fight the attacker off and was stabbed. A crew member and a passenger then entered the cockpit and subdued the suspect, the Prime Minister said.
According to Mr Netanyahu, the aircraft lost more than 17,400 feet in about two minutes during the struggle on the flight deck. A crew member who entered the cockpit stabilised the aircraft, he said. Flight FZ 1073, which had departed Dubai International Airport for Ben Gurion International Airport, was diverted and landed safely in Saudi Arabia. All passengers were reported safe. The suspect was arrested and is being questioned by Saudi authorities.
Israel's foreign ministry said those on board were citizens of Israel, India and the United Arab Emirates. The US State Department said four passengers held American citizenship. flydubai said 174 passengers were on the flight, including 27 children, and that its flights to and from Israel would be suspended while the investigation continues. Mr Netanyahu said he had spoken with the President of the UAE, who agreed that Israel would join the questioning of the suspect.
Who is Captain Smit Machchhar?
Captain Machchhar has been with flydubai for four years, according to his LinkedIn profile. Before that he spent about a decade at the Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet, joining in 2011 and serving in several roles, including line training captain and senior commander. He has more than 13 years of commercial flying experience on the Boeing 737 fleet and more than 9,750 flying hours, much of it as a line training captain. In June 2022 he left SpiceJet and joined flydubai as a direct entry captain. His brother has also recently joined the airline.
In a podcast conversation, Bonafide Banter with Zalak Mehta, Captain Machchhar described how he came to aviation. After school he enrolled in a textile engineering course connected to his family's business, then took up a management course. It was at an aviation seminar during that course, when he was 19, that he decided what he wanted to do. His mother was apprehensive about the choice, while his father took the news calmly. He trained in New Zealand, at a cost of about Rs 16 lakh to Rs 17 lakh, he said.
What remains unverified
The episode occurred as Israel approaches the first anniversary of the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, which triggered a series of wars. Mr Netanyahu had warned in the days before the flight of heightened and unspecified security threats. Several key details — including the alleged motive, the exact sequence of events on the flight deck, and the identity of the suspect — have not been independently confirmed. The suspect has not been publicly named, has not been formally charged in information released so far, and is entitled to the presumption of innocence. Investigations by Saudi and Israeli authorities, as well as the airline, are continuing, and further details may emerge.
