Who is Smit Machchhar, Indian pilot who prevented ‘9/11-like’ attack?:Fought off knife-wielding co-pilot; saved 180 passengers on flight headed to Israel

An Indian pilot, Smit Machchhar, saved a Dubai-to-Israel flight from crashing after his co-pilot attacked him with a knife. Despite being injured, Smit fought back and, with help from passengers, managed to restrain him. The incident took place at around 9 am on Wednesday on a Flydubai flight carrying 180 people. Israeli officials said the attacker was an Omani national. A senior Israeli official said the pilot’s courage prevented a major tragedy that could otherwise have been similar to the 9/11 attacks in the US in 2001. After the attacker was restrained, passengers applauded in relief. Most of those on board were Israeli passengers. Captain Smit had been a pilot with SpiceJet for 11 Years Smit was previously a pilot with SpiceJet. He joined flydubai in June 2022. He joined the airline as a direct-entry captain. According to his LinkedIn profile, he has more than 13 years of experience flying commercial aircraft. He has flown Boeing 737 aircraft for around 9,750 hours. Before joining flydubai, Smit worked at SpiceJet for more than 11 years. He was a senior commander there and later became a line training captain. He logged more than 9,500 hours of flying at SpiceJet, including more than 6,400 hours as the aircraft’s captain, or pilot-in-command. He also trained, assessed and guided pilots during their work. His profile also mentioned his expertise in crew resource management, flight standards, regulatory compliance and Boeing 737 operations. Captain said in podcast he dreamt of becoming a pilot while studying management Last October, Captain Smit Machchhar appeared on a podcast with the YouTube channel CS Jalk Mehta. He said: “After school, I studied management to take over the family business. But during this time, I attended an aviation seminar, where I first thought about becoming a pilot.” He further said, “My first commercial flight was from Bengaluru to Delhi.” Find out what happened on the aircraft in 10 points Netanyahu praises captain, passengers and crew Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident a very serious security event. He claimed that the co-pilot intended to harm the aircraft. Netanyahu said Saudi authorities were questioning the suspect. He praised the captain, passengers and crew members who helped save the lives of those on board, saying he saluted these heroes. After the incident, Netanyahu also held an emergency meeting with the National Security Adviser and the Military Secretary. ​