Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an interview on Fox News praised Indian pilot Smit Machchhar and described his act of saving passengers despite being stabbed and attacked by an axe as 'unbelievably courageous'.
He said that the pilot was "badly wounded" and is fighting for his life at the moment.
Netanyahu said that after Machchhar unlocked the door to the cockpit, despite being gravely injured and covered with blood, passengers on the flight foiled the co-pilot's attempt to crash the aircraft.
צפו בראיון שלי הלילה לרשת החדשות האמריקנית פוקס ניוז >> pic.twitter.com/s2PVLJTH8w
— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) October 1, 2026
After Machchhar was stabbed, the plane plunged nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds. A second pair of flydubai pilots who were onboard at the time, later landed the jet in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
"He was bleeding profusely. The plane began to go out of control and began a nosedive. The pilot, the pilot who was there was an Indian pilot with sort of a very badly wounded. He's fighting, I think, for his life right now. But in an act of unbelievable courage, he managed to unlock the door to the cockpit", Netanyahu said.
On Wednesday, Netanyahu saluted the Indian pilot for his "extraordinary bravery".
In a post on X, he said, "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".
Netanyahu said the pilot's actions prevented what could have become a major aviation disaster.
The Israeli leader wished him a speedy recovery and described him as "a true hero".
READ | 'He Always Has Plan B, Plan C': Pilot Who Trained With Captain Smit Machchhar
Who Is Captain Machchhar?
Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian citizen, had been working with flydubai, a low-cost carrier owned by the Emirati government, for four years. He had worked for SpiceJet for 10 years prior to that.
READ | Captain Smit Machchhar Has Vast Knowledge Of Aviation: Ex-GoAir Pilot
According to his LinkedIn profile, Captain Machchhar has over 13 years of commercial flying experience on the Boeing 737 fleet. He served as a line training captain extensively and has over 9,750 flying hours.
Captain Machchhar joined SpiceJet in 2011 and had served in several roles at the low-cost airline, including as a line training captain and a senior commander. In June 2022, he quit SpiceJet and joined flydubai as a direct entry captain.
His brother, too, had recently joined flydubai.
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