Smit Machchhar: Bleeding on the Cockpit Floor, the Indian Captain Opened the Door That Saved 174 Lives

The jet was still climbing out of Dubai when the cockpit of flydubai flight FZ1073 became a scene of violence.

Captain Smit Machchhar, a Mumbai-born pilot who lives in Dubai, was stabbed by his own first officer. Israeli officials and passengers say the copilot, identified by an Israeli official as an Omani national, was trying to bring the aircraft down. Netanyahu said the weapon may have been an axe. The Boeing 737 MAX 8 had been headed for Tel Aviv. Passengers reported it plunging thousands of feet within moments.

The Door

Machchhar was lying bloodied on the floor when he did the one thing that could change the outcome. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesperson, Doron Spielman, said the captain drew on "the last moments of his energy" to hit the release on the cockpit door.

Behind it, passengers had already sensed something terrible was happening. A flight attendant was alerted after one passenger's wife heard screams from the front of the aircraft. When the door opened, three Israeli passengers went in with crew members. They found the injured captain on the ground and, by their account, the copilot standing over the controls and attacking them.

A Plane Full of Hands

No single act saved the flight, and the accounts do not claim one did.

Yaniv Hayun said he dragged the attacker away from the controls, then took hold of the yoke and pulled back as the aircraft tilted steeply. He told Netanyahu, with a laugh, that he knew what to do because he watches the air-crash documentary series Mayday. Hayun said the pilot soon told him he was taking over. Two other Israelis, Assaf Rajwan and Tzvika Manes, helped restrain the copilot, using corded headphones to tie him up.

Dr. Shota Musayev, an Israeli dentist on board, ran to the cockpit within seconds. He says he stopped the captain's heavy bleeding and stabilised his blood pressure. Two off-duty flydubai pilots then flew the jet to an emergency landing at Tabuk in Saudi Arabia.

Machchhar, reported to be 39, underwent surgery there. The Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia said he was stable and that it was in touch with his family and the Saudi authorities.

Praise From Delhi and Jerusalem

By Thursday, the pilot's name was on the lips of two prime ministers.

Netanyahu hailed him on X as a "true hero" and said "my salute to the Indian pilot for his extraordinary bravery". He said the captain, though badly wounded, fought back and opened the door that let others overpower the attacker. He credited him with saving 174 lives, Israelis and other nationals among them. In a CNN interview, he said Machchhar and the passengers who stormed the cockpit had prevented a "9/11 disaster."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a post on X early Thursday, also called Machchhar a hero. He praised the captain's courage in the gravest danger, despite serious injuries, and said his valour had helped save hundreds of lives.

What Remains Unknown

The investigation is only beginning. Flydubai says the reasons for the incident remain unknown and has warned against premature speculation. It has suspended its Israel flights. Netanyahu has said the copilot "obviously hated Israelis" but that his exact background is unclear. He called it too early to say whether Iran was involved. The copilot is being questioned in Saudi Arabia.

For now, the verifiable part of the story is enough. A captain who had been stabbed and was losing blood reached for a door lock, and a plane carrying more than a hundred and seventy people came down safely.