India, Oct. 2 -- Captain Smit Machchhar, the Indian pilot stabbed aboard flydubai flight FZ1073, is recovering well and "smiling, laughing, chatting" at a hospital in Abu Dhabi, India's ambassador to the UAE, Deepak Mittal, has said.

Mittal met Machchhar and his family at the hospital and said the pilot was in a stable condition and receiving good medical care. Despite some discomfort, the pilot's morale was high, the ambassador said on Thursday.

"I just met him along with his family here, in the hospital, in UAE, and he's doing well. I was very relieved to see, and very reassured, that he's doing well, he's quite stable. He was talking, he was chatting, a bit of discomfort, but I think he's under good medical care here in UAE," Mittal ...