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Indian airline captain
Smit Machchhar is an Indian commercial pilot who, while serving as the captain aboard Flydubai Flight 1073 on 30 September 2026 on a Boeing 737 MAX, was stabbed by his co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami in the cockpit. Machchhar received life-threatening injuries in the attack, but managed to open the cockpit door from the inside, allowing crew and passengers to intervene and subdue the co-pilot. The airplane then safely made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, with no fatalities.
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Airline of the United Arab Emirates
Dubai Aviation Corporation, doing business as Flydubai, is an Emirati government-owned airline based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The airline mainly operates out of Terminal 2 at Dubai International Airport, though some flights operate from Terminal 3. The airline operates a total of 131 destinations, serving the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe from Dubai. The company slogan is "Get Going".
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Smit Machchhar says in video call with Indian PM that he realised if he did not get up ‘passengers would lose their lives’
Capt. Smit Machchhar was severely injured by his fellow pilot but managed to open the cockpit door, an action credited with saving the lives of everyone on board.
As it plunged 17,000ft in under two minutes, a quick-thinking captain and passengers saved plane from crashing.