India, Oct. 2 -- Israeli leaders have hailed Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, as a "hero" for thwarting an alleged attempt by his co-pilot to crash a flydubai flight carrying nearly 180 people, and wished him a speedy recovery. Machchhar was stabbed and seriously injured by his co-pilot in the cockpit of flydubai flight FZ1073, travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, on Wednesday. "Despite being stabbed and seriously injured, he fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door, and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker - preventing a catastrophic mid-air disaster," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement, hailing him as a "true hero". "My salute to the Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar for his e...