Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 1: The Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday hailed the heroic deeds of the Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar, who managed to save the Dubai – Tel Aviv despite being severely wounded in an altercation with his co-pilot who allegedly tried to crash the flight on Wednesday.
Describing him as a “true hero,” Mr Netanyahu said “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 disaster… He saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals… He is a true hero.”
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a post on X, said, “Captain Smit Machchhar is a HERO. 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. His valour helped save hundreds of lives and avert a great tragedy. India is proud of Captain Machchhar….”
News website Ynet, citing Israeli officials, reported that the co-pilot was an Omani national and was suspected of trying to crash the aircraft. The Indian captain fought with him to prevent the aircraft from crashing, with Israeli passengers later helping subdue the co-pilot, the report said.
The flydubai flight FZ1073, travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, had transmitted emergency signals and made a sharp descent before diverting to Prince Sultan Bin Abdel Aziz Airport in Tabuk in Saudi Arabia. The flight was carrying 174 passengers, including 27 children.
Mr Machchhar has more than 13 years of commercial flying experience and has flown more than 9,500 hours including over 6,400 hours as Pilot In Command (PIC). A native of Mumbai, he was with SpiceJet for over 11 years before taking up the role of captain at flydubai in June 2022 after serving with SpiceJet as a commander for little over 11 years from June 2011.
Mr Machchhar is a “good person,” a senior pilot who had worked with him at SpiceJet said. According to his Linkedin profile, Mr Machchhar was a former Line Training Captain at SpiceJet.
The flydubai Boeing 737 MAX carrying 180 people went into a terrifying steep dive in just a little over a minute, breaching the airframe’s maximum tolerance and safe parameters by a big margin.
Many pilots including from the military across the world have commented on social media that the aircraft managed to land safely against all odds and it was nothing short of a miracle. They relied on publicly available data from flight-tracking websites that give accurate information about critical aspects of the aircraft while in flight.
According to a post on X by author and pilot Buzz Patterson, even an active duty military pilot of the rugged C-17 transport aircraft also agreed that the “plane was orders of magnitude above the limits and beyond the calculated safety factors built into airlines and it managed to survive.”
After it landed safely, visuals of the aircraft showed that the rudders attached to the vertical stabiliser which is used to keep the plane flying straight had been ripped off. While the vertical stabiliser prevents side-to-side motion or yawing, the rudder that forms a part of the vertical stabiliser moves depending on the situation to control the yawing motion.
The co-pilot of the flydubai flight attacked the brave Captain Smit Machchhar, with a crash axe. “This is my old jet. This airframe exceeded the maximum operating speed by 100 knots. That’s a lot. It ripped off the rudder. To recover, stabilize the jet, and divert is simply a miracle. Thank the Lord, for the deadhead crew being on board. This would’ve ended in a much, much different outcome,” the American pilot said in the post on X.
What happened in the mid-air on Wednesday was shocking. The flydubai Boeing 737-8 MAX flight, FZ 1073, had an in-flight incident while en route from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to Tel Aviv, Israel — a 2,100-kilometre-plus sector covered in three hours. The aircraft was diverted to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia and safely landed despite extensive damage to the aircraft. Most of the 174 passengers on board were Israelis. Flydubai has announced the suspension of all flights to and from Israel. An investigation has begun.
Media reports have said an altercation was alleged to have broken out between the two flight crew members, with one of the pilots being stabbed. Amid the commotion on the flight deck, the aircraft squawked a series of transponder codes that are used globally during an aviation emergency. In this instance, the codes (7700 and 7500) denoted an emergency (in the case of mechanical or technical problems) as well as trouble due to a hijack or ‘unlawful interference.’ This may have prompted Saudi Arabia and Israel to scramble fighter jets. The Boeing 737, which was flying at about 34,000 feet, made a sudden descent to about 19,000 feet before levelling off at about 15,000 feet.
The incident happened about two and half hours into the flight and the jet, which was in the Jordanian airspace, looped back to Saudi Arabia and made an emergency landing at Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz international airport in Tabuk. Pictures showed that the aircraft had substantial damage.
An emergency descent can be controlled, but in this instance, where descent could have been initiated erratically, there can be severe damage and stress to the crucial flight control surfaces and even the aircraft’s tail. Ground images from Tabuk showed damage to the rudder on the tail/vertical stabiliser of the aircraft — a large part of it was missing. Passengers are seen de-boarding the aircraft using a step ladder from Saudi Ground Services (SGS) Company, the ground handling agency.
In a post on X, the Indian Embassy has said: “Our Embassy in Riyadh and Consulate in Jeddah have been following the health condition of Mr Smit Machchhar… He is admitted in a hospital in Tabuk city in northwest Saudi Arabia and is receiving necessary medical attention. A full update on his health is awaited, but he is reported to be in stable condition….”
Media reports, eyewitness accounts and in-flight video clips have detailed how passengers were overtaken by the events, with chaos prevailing towards the front of the aircraft. Media reports said “after being stabbed and seriously wounded by the co-pilot, the Indian captain managed to click open the cockpit door, which allowed several Israelis to burst in and subdue the attacker.” attributing this to a spokesperson for Mr Netanyahu. Other flydubai pilots, who were in the cabin, were able to intervene and carry out the safe landing in Saudi Arabia.
The reports also quote a Netanyahu spokesman, Doron Spielman, as saying that the captain, “who was bloodied and lying on the floor, had drawn on the last moments of his energy to click open the release on the cockpit door … At that moment, some of the passengers who realised something was happening raced forward, [and] entered the pilot’s cabin. They saw the injured pilot on the ground, and the other… the attacking pilot was standing over the control panel, bashing the control panel.”
Reports quote passengers talking about a (pocket) knife having been used in the attack. Other reports cite the flight deck crash axe as having been used in the confrontation. A senior Boeing pilot said the crash axe (a mandatory aircraft safety emergency tool for aircrew) is “normally stored near the pilot seats. It is to be accessed quickly and is in plain sight. It is used by the crew to breach the fuselage in an emergency and if there is structural deformation.”
Some passengers and cabin crew are reported to have restored order, enabling the flydubai pilots in the passenger cabin to take over. A video clip with aviation sources has shown both pilots on the cabin floor, bleeding profusely, with bloodstains on the cabin wall. One of the pilots can be seen in a blood-soaked shirt with epaulettes, while the other crew member can be seen with an oxygen mask. Some passengers around the injured pilots can be seen asking for the filming to stop.
On Thursday, an All India Radio bulletin said the “Saudi authorities have arrested the Omani co-pilot.” In an interview with a media outlet, Mr Netanyahu said, “The attacking pilot is now being investigated [in] Saudi Arabia. I think he’ll be taken to the Emirates where he comes from — or at least where he flew off from. We’ll be following and also possibly participating in this investigation.”
In three statements, a flydubai spokesperson said “flydubai can confirm that flight FZ 1073 operating to Ben Gurion International Airport experienced an incident while en route. The aircraft landed safely in Tabuk Airport and all passengers are safe and accounted for.
In the second statement, the spokesperson said “an altercation occurred in the flight deck and the aircraft was successfully secured by on-duty flydubai crew travelling on the flight, who diverted and landed the aircraft safely. We have deployed two replacement aircraft to Tabuk to relieve the passengers and crew. This incident has no impact on other scheduled operations across the flydubai network.” The spokesperson said “at this early stage, the underlying reasons and motives behind this event are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation, urging all parties to refrain from premature speculation while authorities gather the facts.”
In the third statement, the spokesperson said “in coordination with the relevant authorities, flydubai flights to and from Israel will be suspended while the investigation continues.” The statement added that the airline is “fully committed to supporting the ongoing investigation,” remains “in close coordination with government authorities, regulators and airport stakeholders and will review the suspension as more information becomes available.”
The airline, which is owned by the Dubai Aviation Corporation, commenced operations in June 2009 and has a network of over 125 destinations, which includes India. It currently uses a single aircraft type, the Boeing 737. In 2017, it announced an extensive partnership with Emirates, one of the largest global airlines.