'I couldn't let everyone else die': The Flydubai pilot stabbed by his coworker describes how he helped save Flight 1073
Captain Smit Machchhar of Flydubai Flight 1073 has been praised as a hero after fighting off a stabbing attack by his co-pilot to prevent a crash. The flight, which dropped 15,000 feet, was safely diverted to Saudi Arabia after passengers and crew intervened.
Why it matters
This incident highlights extreme safety risks in aviation and the critical role of crew intervention in preventing catastrophic outcomes during cockpit emergencies.
Smit Machchhar, the captain of Flydubai Flight 1073, has been hailed as a hero. Israel Foreign Ministry/Reuters Smit Machchhar, the captain of Flydubai Flight 1073, spoke to India's prime minister on Friday. In a video call from the hospital, he described how he opened the cockpit door after being stabbed. Machchhar has been hailed a hero for helping stop his fellow pilot from crashing the plane. The Flydubai captain who was stabbed by his copilot has described how he fought to save the airplane with nearly 180 passengers. "Even with my eyes closed, I know exactly what is happening in the cockpit. When I was lying on the floor, I could sense the aircraft was going down," Smit Machchhar told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Hindi in a video published Friday.
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