Smit Machchhar
Thirty seconds.
That’s roughly how long it took flydubai flight FZ1073 to plunge nearly 14,000 feet after a violent confrontation erupted inside its cockpit on 30 September.
The Boeing 737 MAX 8 was flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv with 174 passengers on board when, according to Israeli authorities, its co-pilot attacked and repeatedly stabbed Indian captain Smit Machchhar before attempting to take control of the aircraft. Reuters reported that the aircraft dropped nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds; flight-tracking data recorded a larger descent of more than 17,000 feet in under two minutes.
What happened next has turned Smit Machchhar into the unlikely hero of an extraordinary aviation story.
Despite his injuries, the Indian pilot reportedly resisted his attacker. But perhaps his most consequential act came when he was already bloodied and on the cockpit floor.
According to an account from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesperson Doron Spielman, Machchhar summoned what he described as the “last moments of his energy” to activate the release for the locked cockpit door.
יניב, אתה גיבור אמיתי. אנחנו עם של אריות! pic.twitter.com/55AgmAvzIG
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) September 30, 2026
It gave those on the other side their chance.
Passengers who had realised something was seriously wrong rushed into the cockpit and helped overpower the alleged attacker.
One of them, Yaniv Hayun, later described being thrown sideways by the aircraft’s sudden nosedive. Once inside the cockpit, he put the alleged attacker in a chokehold and pulled him away. Hayun then briefly grabbed the aircraft’s controls and helped level the plane before another pilot took over.
Other passengers joined the struggle. One later told Israeli media that they restrained the alleged attacker using his own zip ties and headphones.
Crucially, there were other flydubai pilots travelling on the aircraft. The airline has confirmed that on-duty crew travelling as passengers secured the plane and diverted it to Tabuk in north-western Saudi Arabia, where it landed safely.
The drama had also been visible from the ground.
Flight FZ1073 had departed Dubai at 7.05am local time and climbed to 34,000 feet. During the emergency it transmitted squawk 7700, the international code signalling a general emergency, followed by 7500 – the code for unlawful interference with an aircraft. It ultimately landed at Tabuk at 6.58am GMT.
All passengers were accounted for and later flown onwards to Tel Aviv.
Who is Smit Machchhar?
As details emerged, attention quickly turned to the wounded Indian captain at the centre of the story.
Mumbai-born Smit Machchhar is no rookie pilot.
He joined flydubai as a direct-entry captain in June 2022 after nearly 11 years with SpiceJet in Mumbai, where he rose to senior commander and line training captain, training and assessing other pilots.
“I say blessed.”
That was Captain Smit Machchhar’s one word when asked to describe being a pilot, in an interview last October.
Today he saved 174 people.
Praying for his full recovery.pic.twitter.com/xqNyOTvZlU https://t.co/y0OXA1bxNO
— Yehuda Teitelbaum (@chalavyishmael) September 30, 2026
His professional profile lists some 9,750 hours flying Boeing 737 aircraft, including the 737-800 and MAX variants. More than 6,400 of those hours were accumulated as pilot-in-command at SpiceJet.
It is a background steeped in the very things aviation emergencies demand: training, safety procedures and the ability to make decisions under pressure.
Yet no amount of routine training could make the circumstances aboard FZ1073 routine.
Machchhar was taken to hospital in Tabuk, where reports say he underwent surgery. India’s Embassy in Riyadh confirmed it was following his condition alongside the Consulate General in Jeddah and was in contact with his family. He was reported to be stable.
Netanyahu subsequently called the Indian captain a “true hero”, saying his actions had helped save 174 lives.
My salute to the Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar for his extraordinary bravery.
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…
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) September 30, 2026
Questions still unanswered
Amid the extraordinary accounts of what happened aboard flydubai flight FZ1073, significant questions remain.
The alleged attacker has reportedly been taken into custody by Saudi authorities. Israeli officials have described the incident as an attempted attack on the aircraft, but no official motive has yet been established.
There are also questions about precisely how events unfolded inside the cockpit and what triggered the confrontation.
Flydubai has so far been notably cautious. It has confirmed an “altercation” on the flight deck and that other flydubai crew travelling on the aircraft subsequently secured it and landed safely. The airline has urged against speculation while authorities establish the facts.
Those investigations will eventually establish a fuller picture.
But one part of the story is already difficult to overlook.
In an aircraft falling rapidly from cruising altitude, seriously wounded and with control of the cockpit at stake, Captain Smit Machchhar still had the presence of mind to do one vital thing.
He opened the door.
And once that door opened, others could act.
READ ALSO: QLD’s Sukhbir Singh Seehra in National Bravery Awards
