Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian pilot operating a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, has been praised for his actions after he was stabbed by his co-pilot during the flight and helped prevent the aircraft from crashing.
Machchhar, who sustained serious injuries in the attack, reportedly managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew members to enter and overpower the attacker as the aircraft plunged thousands of feet.
The flydubai Flight 1073, carrying 174 passengers, eventually landed safely in Tabuk, north-western Saudi Arabia, where Machchhar was taken to hospital.
The incident has drawn praise from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, among others.
Modi described Machchhar as a “hero”, saying his actions helped save hundreds of lives despite being seriously injured.
“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,” Modi said in a post on X.
“His valour helped save hundreds of lives and avert a great tragedy.”
Netanyahu also praised the pilot, saying he resisted his attacker, opened the cockpit door and enabled passengers and crew members to intervene.
The incident reportedly started when Machchhar's fellow pilot, said to be an Omani national, attacked him inside the cockpit.
During the struggle, the aircraft reportedly went into a steep descent, losing almost 14,000ft (4,267 metres) in less than 30 seconds.
Passengers later described the terrifying experience as severe turbulence as the aircraft rapidly lost altitude.
With the cockpit door open, several passengers rushed in to assist the injured pilot and restrain the attacker.
Among them was Yaniv Hayoun, described by Netanyahu as a plumber.
Hayoun said he entered the cockpit and joined others in wrestling with the attacker before taking hold of the aircraft's controls.
“I jumped back, grabbed the controls, and started pulling back the handles,” he told Netanyahu, explaining that he had seen similar actions on television.
Dr Shota Musaev, a dentist travelling on the flight, was another passenger who entered the cockpit.
Musaev told CNN that they found the attacker on top of Machchhar and stabbing him.
He said the pilot had suffered serious injuries to his head and hands and had lost a considerable amount of blood.
“I think that if we had waited even a few more moments, we would have lost him,” Musaev said.
According to him, Machchhar's blood pressure fell sharply and he subsequently lost consciousness.
Musaev also helped restrain the attacker, using headphone cords and plastic zip ties to tie him up.
While passengers and crew dealt with the attacker and the injured pilot, other members of the flight crew worked to stabilise the aircraft.
Two relief pilots who were travelling on the aircraft were also reportedly involved in recovering control of the plane.
Passenger Almog Itali said the relief pilots entered the cockpit and helped pull the aircraft out of its descent before landing it in Saudi Arabia.
“The relief pilots are European, one of them British, who entered [the cockpit] and pulled the aircraft up, pulled the yoke, stabilised the plane and landed us in Saudi Arabia,” Itali said in an account shared by the BBC.
However, other reports said the off-duty pilots were from South Africa or New Zealand.
Machchhar was subsequently taken to hospital in Tabuk, where Indian officials said he was in stable condition after undergoing surgery.
Indian officials were also said to have contacted his family, reportedly including his wife and two children living in Dubai.
Experts surprised by aircraft's survival
Aviation experts have expressed surprise that the aircraft survived the extreme descent.
One passenger described the experience as “massive turbulence” lasting between 20 and 30 seconds.
Steve Arroyo, a former United Airlines pilot and aviation safety expert, said the aircraft had undergone a severe descent and appeared to have suffered significant damage to its rudder.
“That was a serious descent and strong aerodynamic forces on that rudder for that to happen. I’m just amazed the aircraft didn’t come apart,” Arroyo said.
Another aviation expert, Guzzetti, said the aircraft's remaining altitude gave the pilots enough room to recover control.
“What saved them is there was enough altitude left for them to recover,” he said, noting that recovery could have been impossible if the aircraft had descended below 10,000ft.
Machchhar's ability to open the cockpit door despite his injuries was seen as a crucial moment in the incident, as it enabled others to reach the cockpit and assist in restraining the attacker and recovering the aircraft.
Philip Kean, chief executive of Mainland Air in New Zealand, where Machchhar trained for 18 months in 2008 and 2009, described him as an above-average pilot.
Kean said pilots undergo training for emergencies, but successfully dealing with such an event in real life was a different challenge.
“He had shown leadership after being attacked in mid-air,” Kean told Stuff.
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