India, Oct. 1 -- The pilot of a flydubai flight travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, who was stabbed by the copilot in an alleged attempt to crash the aircraft, has been identified as Indian national Smit Machchhar.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Machchhar for saving 180 lives and wished him a "speedy and full recovery", while Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump called the Indian pilot a "hero". Follow live updates related to flydubai incident here.

Machchhar has served as a captain on flydubai's Boeing 737 fleet since June 2022, according to his LinkedIn profile. His profile shows 9,750 flying hours on the 737-800 and 737 MAX 8 and 9.

Before joining flydubai, he worked with SpiceJet in Mumbai fo...