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FlyDubai pilot showed world 'the highest form of courage,' India's PM says
Confirmed
In Short: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Captain Smit Machchhar for showing 'the highest form of courage' in preventing a terrorist attack on a FlyDubai flight.
Modi said Machchhar's actions prevented a '9/11-like attack,' highlighting the pilot's bravery in fighting back despite being stabbed.
The Indian consulate in Dubai reported that India's ambassador and consul general in the UAE met with Machchhar's family members.
Prosecutors in the UAE have opened an investigation into the incident, according to the state news agency WAM.
Tracking data showed the aircraft rapidly descended from 34,000 to 16,000 feet in just three minutes.
Machchhar, who has worked for FlyDubai for about four years, trained as a pilot at Mainland Air in New Zealand.
Another FlyDubai aircraft was brought in to transport the passengers to their destination in Tel Aviv.
Modi also spoke to Machchhar's wife and parents, according to sources.
The incident was described as a 'terror act' by Orli Weitzman, Israel Consul General to South India.
Machchhar is currently in stable condition at a hospital in Saudi Arabia, where he is receiving medical care.
What this adds
The incident highlights the critical role of pilots in ensuring passenger safety during emergencies.
The rapid descent of the aircraft underscores the severity of the situation faced by Machchhar and the crew.
Details about the co-pilot's identity and motives remain unclear, pending the ongoing investigation.
What's confirmed
- Modi said Machchhar's actions prevented a '9/11-like attack,' highlighting the pilot's bravery in fighting back despite being stabbed.
- The Indian consulate in Dubai reported that India's ambassador and consul general in the UAE met with Machchhar's family members.
- Prosecutors in the UAE have opened an investigation into the incident, according to the state news agency WAM.
- Tracking data showed the aircraft rapidly descended from 34,000 to 16,000 feet in just three minutes.
- Machchhar, who has worked for FlyDubai for about four years, trained as a pilot at Mainland Air in New Zealand.
- Another FlyDubai aircraft was brought in to transport the passengers to their destination in Tel Aviv.
- Modi also spoke to Machchhar's wife and parents, according to sources.
- The incident was described as a 'terror act' by Orli Weitzman, Israel Consul General to South India.
- Machchhar is currently in stable condition at a hospital in Saudi Arabia, where he is receiving medical care.
What's still developing
- "Captain Smit Machchhar has shown the world the highest form of courage. Without fearing for his own life, he fought valiantly and prevented another 9/11 like attack from happening," Modi said Thursday morning.
- Smit Machchhar, the FlyDubai captain credited with intervening to help save the flight from disaster on Wednesday.
- FlyDubai confirmed that the flight "experienced an incident while en route" and landed in Tabuk.
- "I did speak to [Israeli Prime Minister] Bibi [Benjamin] Netanyahu at length about this event, and it seems as though the copilot was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job. And he stabbed the pilot," President Donald Trump said Wednesday.
- Machchhar, who is married and has two children, trained as a pilot at Mainland Air in the New Zealand city of Dunedin for 18 months, beginning in 2008, the school’s head Philip Kean told 1News, a New Zealand television news channel.
- "Poor pilot, he was just praying the whole time and was in contact with me, and I was afraid we would really lose him," Musayev said.
- Co-pilot stabs pilot and attempts to crash a flydubai flight bound for Israel, but is thwarted by hero passengers.
- Smit Machchhar, "without fearing for his own life," had "fought valiantly and prevented another 9/11-like attack from happening" on Wednesday aboard FlyDubai Flight FZ1073, which had to make an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
- Smit Machchhar, the Indian pilot who allegedly was attacked on a FlyDubai plane heading to Israel on Wednesday, Sept.
- (Israel Foreign Ministry) Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said on Wednesday there was "no doubt" that a FlyDubai pilot who allegedly stabbed Machchhar was attempting to bring down the plane, calling it a miracle that the aircraft was able to land safely.
- He said that the pilot's act fills every Indian's heart with pride.
- Addressing the centenary celebrations of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), he said Captain Machchhar has showed great patience, acumen and bravery.