THE WASHINGTON POST: FlyDubai captain’s journey from nervous pilot to cockpit ‘hero’
THE WASHINGTON POST: Captain Smit Machchhar once said he had planned to join his family’s textile business before being bitten by the ‘aviation bug’.
Smit Machchhar, the FlyDubai commander whose actions after being stabbed in the cockpit helped avert disaster, hadn’t even planned on becoming a pilot.
He was working for his family’s textile business in India when inspiration struck.
“Becoming a pilot was not first choice, and it only changed after attending an aviation conference,” Machchhar said in a YouTube podcast in October 2025, where he recalled being nervous in his first flight when he was under probation. “Relaxing would have been the best option. Stressing is not gonna help in this industry.”
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Now he’s being hailed by leaders around the world for his bravery and quick thinking during a midair struggle with his crewmate that sent the Boeing Co. 737 Max aircraft into a sudden, deep dive.
US President Donald Trump, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and India Prime Minister Narendra Modi called him a hero for fighting back despite his stab wounds and opening the cockpit door to the cabin. That allowed passengers on the Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight to rush in, subdue the attacker and take control after the plane plunged more than 4,300 metres within 30 seconds at almost the speed of sound.
The aircraft made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
The Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia said in a statement posted on X that Machchhar had been admitted to a hospital in Tabuk in northwest Saudi Arabia and was “receiving necessary medical attention. A full update on his health is awaited but he is reported to be in stable condition.”
Machchhar has his origins in Modi’s home state of Gujarat and hails from Mumbai, India’s financial capital. He flew for SpiceJet Ltd. before leaving for FlyDubai in 2022.
Machchhar has been flying Boeing single-aisle jets for about 16 years and has clocked 9,750 hours of flying, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He did his commercial pilot licence training in New Zealand and flew his first commercial flight between Bengaluru in southern India and New Delhi.
“I was scared to fly that first commercial flight not because of the flight but because it was my training flight,” Machchhar said in the podcast Bona-Fide Bantar.
His pilot colleagues said he currently lives in Dubai with his wife and children and has a brother, who is a pilot with India’s Akasa Air.
While FlyDubai confirmed that an altercation occurred between pilots in the flight deck, it didn’t comment on the reasons for the fight and urged parties to refrain from speculation.
Meanwhile, Modi has spoken to Machchhar’s parents and wife, and assured them that Indian missions abroad are providing all possible help, according to a senior Indian government official, who shared this with reporters in a text message.
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