India, Oct. 3 -- A terrorist tried to turn an aircraft into a weapon. A brave Indian captain stood like a wall between his passengers and a certain catastrophe
On the morning of September 30, flydubai flight FZ1073, a Boeing 737 MAX carrying 174 people from Dubai to Tel Aviv, sent an emergency alert shortly after take-off. By evening, every passenger was safe. That outcome owes much to one Indian: Captain Smit Machchhar.
Here is what has been reported. Machchhar, 39, a Dubai-based pilot with 13 years of flying experience, was stabbed in the cockpit by his co-pilot, who stands accused of trying to seize the aircraft and crash it. The jet pitched into a dive. Bloodied and on the floor, the captain, according to the Israeli Prime Minister's ...