Stabbed flydubai pilot tells Modi he opened cockpit door mid-crash — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Smit Machchhar, an Indian captain with 17 years of flying experience, was stabbed by his co-pilot on a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday in what authorities described as an alleged attempt to crash the plane.
- The flydubai jet, carrying 174 people, plunged nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds before passengers and crew overpowered the co-pilot and a second pair of pilots landed the aircraft in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
- Machchhar recounted the ordeal to PM Narendra Modi in a nearly 10-minute video call from a hospital bed in Abu Dhabi on Friday, released on Modi's social media channels, wiping away tears as he described how he opened the cockpit door to call for help.
- Modi praised Machchhar's "bravery" and said his "presence of mind saved lives and saved the reputation of Indian pilots," while Machchhar credited a Hindu prayer to the monkey god Hanuman for his survival.
- An Israeli PM spokesperson said Machchhar was "covered with blood and on the floor" when he managed to open the door, underscoring how severely he was wounded before the cockpit was breached.
Why it matters: A 174-person commercial flight plunged 14,000 feet in under 30 seconds because one crew member allegedly tried to kill another, and the only barrier between passengers and catastrophe was a wounded pilot's decision to open a door — prompting Modi to publicly elevate a single moment of cockpit heroism into a national reputation story.
Ask SkimNews
