From Textile Engineering to the Cockpit: Indian Captain Hailed as Hero After Averting flydubai Disaster

Captain Smit Machchhar, stabbed by his co-pilot mid-flight, managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers to subdue the attacker

Indian pilot Smit Machchhar has drawn praise from the leaders of both India and Israel for his role in preventing the crash of a flydubai aircraft bound for Tel Aviv. He is now recovering in hospital in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where the flight was diverted on Wednesday after his co-pilot reportedly stabbed him in mid-air in an attempt to bring down the plane, which was carrying 174 people, according to Israeli officials.

Israeli officials said Machchhar, though lying bloodied on the cockpit floor, was able to trigger the cockpit door release. This allowed passengers and crew to overpower the co-pilot, while two flydubai pilots travelling on board as passengers helped land the aircraft.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on X: “Captain Smit Machchhar is a HERO.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described him as a true hero for preventing a catastrophic mid-air disaster.

An unplanned path to aviation

Machchhar has said that flying was never a childhood ambition. Raised in a Mumbai suburb, he now lives in Dubai with his wife and two children. After finishing school, he studied textile engineering with the intention of joining the family business, and later pursued management studies at Mumbai’s Welingkar Institute of Management. His interest in flying was sparked at around the age of 19 by an aviation seminar, after which he trained in New Zealand. He has said his mother was initially fearful of his choice of career.

According to his LinkedIn profile, he flew for Indian carrier SpiceJet for more than a decade before moving to flydubai in 2022. Over a 15-year career, he has logged close to 9,750 flying hours.

Reflecting on his career in a 2025 interview, Machchhar recalled diverting flights for medical emergencies and holding departures over apparently minor technical faults, saying: “Delay is not my problem. As long as you’re walking out of the aircraft is what I want.” He has also spoken of keeping his work separate from his family life, explaining that once he leaves the cockpit, his attention turns to his children.

The incident has prompted questions about how airlines vet their pilots and about aviation security more broadly.