- Captain Smit Machchhar, stabbed by his co-pilot, opened the cockpit door so passengers and crew could intervene.
- Modi, Netanyahu, Murmu and Trump have all hailed him as a hero.
- He is in stable condition in hospital in Tabuk, according to the Indian Embassy.
- The UAE and Saudi Arabia are investigating, and flydubai says the motive is unknown.
SMIT MACHCHHAR was lying on the cockpit floor, covered in blood, when he summoned what an Israeli official called "the last moments of his energy" to release the cockpit door.
That act, aboard a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday, allowed passengers and crew to overpower his co-pilot. Israeli officials say the co-pilot had stabbed Machchhar and tried to crash the plane, which was carrying 174 passengers.
Within hours, the Indian captain was being hailed as a hero across three continents.
"Captain Smit Machchhar is a HERO," Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on social media on Thursday. "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."
Indian Captain Fought Co-Pilot During Dramatic Flydubai Flight Incident
Flight FZ1073 was over Jordan when it suddenly lost altitude, dropping around 17,000 feet in about a minute, according to Flightradar24.
Netanyahu's spokesperson, Doron Spielman, told The Times of Israel that Machchhar managed to click open the cockpit door release despite his wounds. Passengers and crew then overpowered the co-pilot, who has been identified by Israeli officials as an Omani national. A second pair of flydubai pilots travelling on board landed the jet at Tabuk in Saudi Arabia.
Videos circulating on social media appeared to show the captain lying in the aircraft's galley, drenched in blood and wearing an oxygen mask. An Israeli doctor on board treated him soon after the attack, according to Orli Weitzman, Israel's consul general to south India.
The Indian Embassy in Riyadh said Machchhar was in hospital in Tabuk and was "reported to be in stable condition". The Mumbai Mirror, which dubbed him a "Superhero in the sky", reported that his parents had flown to Saudi Arabia to be with him.
'A true hero'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country had 166 citizens on board according to media reports, called Machchhar a "true hero".
"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 mid-air disaster," he said.
Indian pilot battled co-pilot to stop Tel Aviv-bound jet from crashing
Israel's foreign ministry described the rescue as a shared effort: "Indian. Israeli. Emirati. Different nationalities. One extraordinary act of courage."
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana said Israelis were praying for the "brave Indian pilot". Politician Almog Cohen said he would propose naming a lounge at Ben Gurion Airport after him.
In India, President Droupadi Murmu saluted Machchhar's "heroic courage and incredible presence of mind". Modi said he had spoken to the pilot's wife and parents. "Today, the entire world is proud of him," he said.
In Washington, US President Donald Trump recounted what Netanyahu had told him. "The pilot was in very bad shape," Trump said in the Oval Office, adding: "In a way he was a hero."
Trump also described an Israeli passenger, whom Netanyahu identified only as Yanik, a plumber. Trump said Yanik pulled the co-pilot from his seat and later claimed to have picked up the basics of flying from the television series Air Disasters. Trump stressed he was repeating what he had been told: "I don't know if it's true."
'Always very calm'
For those who know Machchhar in Tilak Nagar, the Mumbai suburb where his parents live, his courage came as no surprise.
"We did not expect any less from him – it did not come as a surprise," said neighbour Akshay Doshi, who has known him for about 15 years.
Childhood friend Pratik Gandhi said: "During that time he was always very calm. The same quality he has been bringing to his adult life."
Aviation was never Machchhar's childhood dream. He studied textile engineering with a view to joining the family business, then went on to management studies at Mumbai's Welingkar Institute of Management. There, at about 19, he attended an aviation seminar.
"That's where the aviation bug ... really found me," he said in a 2025 interview on a YouTube channel hosted by Zalak Mehta. His mother, he added, was initially scared by his choice.
He trained in New Zealand and spent 11 years at SpiceJet, rising to line training captain and mentoring younger pilots, before joining flydubai in 2022. "You are a hero to us all, Captain," SpiceJet said.
He has described his first commercial flight as "scary" because of the responsibility, but said he learnt to manage the pressure. "Delay is not my problem. As long as you're walking out of the aircraft is what I want," he said.
Investigation under way
The UAE's attorney general has ordered an investigation, including into whether the incident was linked to "terrorist activity or intent", and Saudi authorities are also investigating. Flydubai has said the motives are unknown, and it has suspended flights to Israel.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz called it an attempted "jihadist" attack. Netanyahu, however, told Fox News it was "too early" to say who was behind it. Weitzman said investigators were examining how the co-pilot came to have a knife.
For Machchhar, the job has always ended at the cockpit door.
"When you walk out of the cockpit, that's it," he said in the 2025 interview. "Someone else needs you now. The kids are there. They want to play with you."
