Flydubai pilot Smit Machchhar: I couldn’t let everybody else die
Flydubai pilot Smit Machchhar recounted his struggle to regain control of his aircraft after a mid-air hijacking attempt by his co-pilot. Despite severe injuries, Machchhar fought back, allowing passengers to intervene and save the flight.
Why it matters
The incident is a major aviation safety event, and the pilot's actions are being lauded as a heroic effort that prevented a mass-casualty disaster.
Smit Machchhar, the hero Flydubai captain who fought off a savage attack by his copilot, kept fighting because he could not “let everybody else die,” he said in his first public remarks since Wednesday’s suspected hijacking attempt. “In that moment, I was fighting for my life,” Machchhar told India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a video call on Friday. “I was so severely wounded that I had fallen down… at that time, I was thinking what if I don’t get up?” A horrific mid-air catastrophe on flight FZ 1073 heading to Tel Aviv was averted in a stunning turn of events on Wednesday when passengers bravely rushed into the cockpit and stand-in pilots regained control of the aircraft. Machchhar was badly injured while trying to fend off the attacker.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in