Key takeaways:
- The Flydubai plane dropped more than 17,000 feet before passengers and crew overpowered the attacking pilot, the BBC reported.
- NBC News reported that 174 people were aboard and that Israeli officials said the co-pilot stabbed Machchhar.
- Machchhar was treated in Saudi Arabia before being airlifted to Abu Dhabi, where he was reported stable.
An injured Flydubai captain said he forced open the cockpit door while his co-pilot attacked him, allowing others to intervene as their Israel-bound plane plunged toward the ground. The flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv diverted to Saudi Arabia and landed safely.
“I was lying on the floor injured but I told myself to go for one last push to open the door from inside,” Capt. Smit Machchhar told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a video call, according to the BBC. “Others came in and also played a role [in controlling the situation]. I was of course fighting for my own life but at the same time I knew I was not going to let others die.”
The Boeing 737 Max 8 dropped more than 17,000 feet (5,200 meters) about two hours into Wednesday’s journey before passengers and crew overpowered the other pilot and regained control, the BBC reported. NBC News reported that 174 people were aboard and that, according to Israeli officials, the other pilot stabbed Machchhar and tried to send the plane into a nosedive. It landed at an airport in Saudi Arabia.
Machchhar told Modi he was on the cockpit floor and still being attacked when he realized the aircraft was descending, according to the BBC. Opening the door let other people enter and help stop the attack. Images of Machchhar covered in blood circulated widely, NBC News reported.
Modi told Machchhar that his “courage, patience and quick decision-making saved the lives of so many people,” the BBC reported. After speaking with the captain’s family, Modi said Machchhar had “shown the world the highest form of courage” and “prevented another 9/11-like attack from happening,” according to NBC News. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called him “a true hero,” saying he had fought back despite being stabbed and seriously injured.
Machchhar was first treated in Tabuk, in northwestern Saudi Arabia. The Indian Embassy in Riyadh described his condition as stable on Wednesday, while Netanyahu told Fox News he was “very badly wounded,” NBC News reported. The BBC later reported that Machchhar had been airlifted to Abu Dhabi, where he was said to be stable. India’s embassy in the United Arab Emirates said Thursday that he was “in good health and recovering well.”
“I am not looking at this wound like a wound because that would make my recovery even more difficult,” Machchhar said, according to the BBC. He said he was confident he would recover and become fit again.
Machchhar, a Mumbai native, trained for 18 months at an aviation college in New Zealand in 2008 and 2009 after becoming interested in flying at 19, NBC News reported. He later flew for Indian budget carrier SpiceJet before joining Flydubai in 2022. His former employer said he flew for SpiceJet for 10 years, and NBC News reported that he had nearly 10,000 hours of experience flying Boeing 737 aircraft.
In a 2025 podcast interview cited by NBC News, Machchhar described the rigorous emergency training pilots and cabin crews receive. Speaking of cabin crew members, he said: “They can save your life.”
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