Wounded Indian flydubai pilot speaks to India PM Narendra Modi on hijacking events
Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian pilot who was stabbed during an attempted hijacking on a flydubai flight, recounted the event to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The pilot managed to open the cockpit door despite his injuries, allowing passengers to restrain the Omani copilot who attempted to crash the plane.
Why it matters
This event highlights a major aviation security incident and the heroic actions of flight crew and passengers in preventing a potential mass-casualty disaster.
The Indian pilot of the recent flydubai flight which saw an attempted hijacking spoke to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a video call on Friday morning, sharing his account of the events.According to the wounded pilot, Capt. Smit Machchhar, he had opened the cockpit door while on the floor of the plane and actively being attacked by his Omani copilot."I was lying on the floor injured but I told myself to go for one last push to open the door from inside," he said.Machchhar added that, while he was fighting for his life, "I knew I was not going to let others die."According to several Indian news outlets, Machchhar is a Gujarati Indian from Mumbai. According to his LinkedIn profile, he spent over a decade flying for Indian airline SpiceJet, where he also served as a training captain and mentor for new pilots, before moving to flydubai.
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