The pilot who was repeatedly stabbed by his co-pilot during Wednesday’s attempted terror attack aboard a flight bound for Israel has been identified as Indian national Smit Machchhar — and accounts emerging from the aircraft credit his fight for control with helping alert passengers to the danger unfolding inside the cockpit.
Machchhar, a veteran pilot with nearly 10,000 hours of flight experience, was flying Flydubai Flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv when the Omani first officer allegedly attacked him with a knife and attempted to seize control of the Boeing 737 MAX 8.
The aircraft eventually landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, but Machchhar was seriously injured and rushed to a hospital after the emergency landing.
According to Israeli and Indian media reports, Machchhar fought back against his attacker as the aircraft began plunging thousands of feet. His struggle also helped alert the crew and passengers to what was happening inside the cockpit, prompting passengers to breach the flight deck and subdue the co-pilot. Machchhar also managed to open the cockpit door despite his injuries, allowing two off-duty pilots to enter the cockpit and land the plane, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Reuters.
Netanyahu hailed Machchhar’s actions, calling the Indian captain’s response “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,” Netanyahu said. “He saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals.”
Netanyahu wished Machchhar “a speedy and full recovery,” adding, “He is a true hero.”
According to the New York Post, the second set of “relief” pilots on board were there to take over for the next flight; instead, they were the ones who landed the plane in Saudi Arabia. The Post reported that both relief pilots were European, with one being British and the other still unknown at the time of publication.
Passengers became part of the fight. One passenger who helped overpower the attacker said the group “jumped on the pilot with force” and tied him up using headphones. Another passenger described how several people rushed into the cockpit and pulled the attacker away.
Later one of the passengers recounted the attack to Netanyahu, providing a more detailed account of how the relief pilots ultimately gained control of the aircraft. He said he and another passenger struggled to force open the cockpit door, where Machchhar was apparently pressed against it after being stabbed.
The passenger said he believed Machchhar managed to open the door himself before collapsing. Once inside, he found the attacker positioned between the pilot seats and “on the controls,” with both pilots out of their seats. The passenger said he grabbed the attacker, pulled him away from the controls, and placed him in a chokehold while other Israelis rushed forward to help restrain him.
With the aircraft’s nose still pointed downward, the passenger then returned to the controls and began pulling them back. When Netanyahu asked how he knew what to do, the passenger explained that he was a flight instructor.
“I’m a flight instructor,” he told the prime minister. “That’s another thing I teach.”
Flight-tracking data showed the plane dropping rapidly during the confrontation. Israel Hayom reported that the Boeing descended roughly 17,000 feet in less than two minutes before the cockpit was secured and the attacker subdued. The sequence turned what could have been a catastrophic attack into a desperate fight to keep the aircraft in the air, as the plane’s rudder was likely inoperable due to the stress on the frame of the plane during the dive.
The plane transmitted the emergency code 7700 before switching to 7500, the aviation code for unlawful interference. Israeli fighter jets were scrambled as authorities feared the aircraft had been hijacked.
Machchhar had been flying commercially for more than a decade before Wednesday’s attack. According to reports, he joined Flydubai in 2022 after spending 11 years with Indian carrier SpiceJet, where he reportedly worked as a line training captain.
Reports on his professional background say he has accumulated approximately 9,750 hours of flight time, including more than 6,400 hours as pilot in command, and has experience flying Boeing 737-800 and 737 MAX aircraft. Those professional details have not been independently confirmed by Flydubai, which has not publicly identified either pilot involved in the incident. What is increasingly clear, however, is the central role Machchhar played in the initial struggle.
Israeli officials have described the incident as an attempted terror attack. The reported attacker, an Omani national, allegedly stabbed Machchhar before attempting to take control of the aircraft. Israeli security officials are continuing to investigate the attack and its motive.
By the time the plane reached Tabuk, both of the original pilots had been injured and were transported to a hospital. All passengers and crew survived.
Flydubai has confirmed that Flight FZ1073 experienced an in-flight incident and landed safely in Saudi Arabia, with all passengers accounted for. The airline has not publicly confirmed the reported stabbing or released the identities of the pilots, saying the circumstances and motives remain subject to a formal investigation.
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