GUWAHATI: Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar has been identified as the captain of a flydubai passenger aircraft who helped prevent a possible crash after his Omani co-pilot allegedly tried to take control of the plane during a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, according to Israeli media reports and an Israeli journalist.
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The Boeing 737 MAX 8, operating as flydubai Flight FZ1073, was carrying at least 150 people when the incident occurred. The aircraft made an emergency landing at Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia following the cockpit confrontation.
According to flight-tracking service Flightradar24, the aircraft dropped from 33,000 feet to around 17,000 feet in about a minute while flying over Saudi Arabia.
Flydubai described the incident as an “altercation in the cockpit” and said on-duty crew members had “diverted and landed the aircraft safely”. The airline also announced the suspension of flights to and from Israel while an investigation continued.
Machchhar was reportedly stabbed multiple times during the incident and was left covered in blood, according to witness reports and officials. He is currently admitted to a hospital in Tabuk City and is receiving medical treatment.
The Indian Embassy in Riyadh and the Consulate General of India in Jeddah said they were closely monitoring Machchhar’s health condition.
Machchhar has more than 13 years of experience flying Boeing 737 aircraft. He joined flydubai as a captain in June 2022 after spending 11 years with SpiceJet, where he served as a senior commander and Line Training Captain.
At SpiceJet, Machchhar reportedly logged more than 9,500 flying hours, including over 6,400 hours as pilot-in-command. His experience also covers pilot training and mentoring, crew resource management, flight standards and compliance, and operations of Boeing 737 NG and MAX aircraft.
Flight FZ1073 took off from Dubai International Airport at 03:05 GMT (07:05 local time) for Ben-Gurion Airport in Israel.
Flight-tracking data showed the aircraft making a rapid descent over Saudi Arabia around two and a half hours after take-off, dropping more than 17,000 feet in less than two minutes at around 05:21.
The aircraft subsequently transmitted the emergency squawk code 7700 before switching to squawk 7500, which is used to report a hijacking. The plane briefly entered Jordanian airspace before turning back towards Saudi Arabia.
The aircraft later began its descent towards Tabuk and landed at Tabuk Airport at 06:58, according to location data.
Initial reports said a fight had broken out between the two pilots. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said one pilot had stabbed the other before allegedly trying to crash the aircraft.
