- Captain Smit Machchhar injured during cockpit altercation on flydubai flight.
- Co-pilot reportedly tried interfering; flight diverted for emergency landing.
- Flight landed safely in Tabuk; UAE authority launched investigation.
- Aircraft rapidly lost 14,000 feet altitude during incident sequence.
Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian commercial pilot with more than a decade of Boeing 737 flying experience, was at the centre of a dramatic cockpit confrontation aboard a flydubai flight that was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. Machchhar was reportedly injured after an altercation with the co-pilot of Flight FZ 1073, which was travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30. The aircraft, carrying 174 passengers, including 27 children, eventually landed safely in Tabuk after the incident was brought under control.
Flydubai has confirmed that a security incident occurred on the flight, while the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has begun examining the circumstances surrounding the episode.
Who Is Smit Machchhar?
Machchhar is an Indian citizen who has been working with flydubai for around four years. Before joining the Dubai-based airline, he spent more than a decade with Indian carrier SpiceJet. His professional profile shows that he joined SpiceJet in June 2011 and worked in several operational roles, eventually becoming a line training captain and senior commander. He moved to flydubai in June 2022 as a direct entry captain, a position generally taken by pilots who already have command experience, as per reports.
Machchhar’s profile lists more than 13 years of commercial aviation experience involving Boeing 737 aircraft. It also records around 9,750 flying hours, including experience on Boeing 737-800 and 737 MAX 8/9 aircraft.
During his SpiceJet tenure, he reportedly accumulated more than 6,400 hours as pilot-in-command. His professional profile also identifies experience as a line training captain, a role involving the training and assessment of other pilots.
His brother had also recently joined flydubai, according to the information available in his professional profile.
ALSO READ: PM Modi Hails Pilot Smit Machchhar For Saving Flydubai Flight From Crash
Fight In The Cockpit
The incident unfolded while Flight FZ 1073 was flying from Dubai International Airport to Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel.
According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the co-pilot allegedly attempted to interfere with the aircraft’s systems while the plane was airborne. Netanyahu said Machchhar confronted the co-pilot and was stabbed during the struggle.
The Israeli account further stated that the co-pilot attempted to take control of the aircraft. Machchhar was reportedly able to open the cockpit door, after which passengers and crew members intervened and helped restrain the attacker.
Reuters, citing passengers and officials, also reported that passengers and members of the crew helped overpower the co-pilot. Other flydubai pilots who were travelling as passengers were reportedly involved in helping regain control of the aircraft.
Flydubai said all passengers and crew members were safe and accounted for after the aircraft landed.
UAE Probe Underway
The circumstances surrounding the confrontation have not yet been fully established.
The UAE’s GCAA said the aircraft was involved in a security incident that was brought under control before the flight was diverted to Tabuk. The aircraft subsequently made an emergency landing there.
The regulator said some crew members were injured and taken to hospital. It has launched an investigation into the causes and circumstances of the incident and urged against drawing conclusions before the inquiry is completed.
As a result, details regarding the alleged attempt to interfere with the aircraft’s systems remain based partly on accounts from Israeli officials, passengers and other reports, rather than a final finding from aviation investigators.
ALSO READ: ‘We Saw Blood’: Passengers Recount Chaos On Flydubai Flight After Pilot Stabbed
Flight Lost 14,000 Feet
Flight-tracking information also showed the scale of the aircraft’s sudden descent during the incident.
NDTV, citing Flightradar24 data, reported that the Boeing 737 dropped approximately 14,300 feet in 37 seconds, descending from around 34,000 feet to nearly 15,600 feet.
Reuters separately reported that the aircraft lost almost 14,000 feet of altitude in roughly 30 seconds.
The flight data demonstrates the severity of the aircraft’s descent but does not, by itself, establish why the plane lost altitude or directly connect the descent to any specific action inside the cockpit.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: abplive.com
