(CNN) - The Indian pilot, Smit Machhar, is now viewed as a hero, after he confronted a violent attack by his co-pilot and contributed to preventing an attempted hijacking of a Flydubai plane that was heading to Israel with more than 170 people on board.
“Smit Machhar is a talented, easy-going, kind-hearted person with a friendly personality,” said Jinat Shah, who lived next door to him in Mumbai before he moved to Dubai. “He is a wonderful human being, and I hope he makes a speedy recovery,” Shah told ANI.
He is celebrated as a hero
Machhar was born into a textile family, and becoming a pilot was “not his childhood dream,” he told the Bona-Fide Banter podcast in 2025.
Initially, he enrolled in a course in textile engineering after completing his school studies.
“I completed the entire course, and since I was still young, I wanted to study a little further,” he said.
When he decided to fly professionally, his training trip led him to New Zealand; He arrived in the southern city of Dunedin when he was approximately 19 years old.
"He was always a fun guy and a very hard-working guy," Philip Keane, his coach at the time, told CNN.
In a group photo shared by Ken dating back to that period, Machhar is easily recognizable; “He has a really special smile,” said Ken, CEO of Mainland Air in Dunedin. “He’s a very cheerful, happy person.”
Before joining Flydubai, Machhar spent 11 years with the Indian airline SpiceJet, where he rose through the ranks until he reached the rank of “Senior Aircraft Captain,” according to his LinkedIn profile.
Before Wednesday's incident, one of the most unusual situations he had encountered during his more than 15-year flying career was the birth of a baby on board.
A woman on the plane was beginning to have labor pains, even though she was not yet due to give birth, Machhar recounted on the Bona-Fide Banter podcast. “Within 7 to 10 minutes, she told me, ‘Captain, it looks like this is progressing toward labor,’” he said.
Machhar said he and the co-pilot began searching for the nearest airports and checking available conditions to make a safe landing, adding that “the mother and baby were healthy.”
When he followed up on the news of the heroic work carried out by Machhar on board the Fly Dubai flight, Ken - his former coach - expressed his extreme pride in the young man who he once trained.
“It was an amazing achievement,” he told CNN, adding: “The lives of all passengers on board could have been lost within seconds; Fortunately, they were able to open the door... and fortunately, he was able to survive and save the situation. If it had been delayed for another half minute, the consequences would have been dire.”
He continued, “I am very proud; "Very proud of the way he handled that situation...and it's great that it ended this way."
Machhar became a national hero in two countries: Israel - where most of the passengers were from - and his home country, India.
Machhar is currently receiving medical care in a hospital in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - according to the Indian Embassy in Riyadh - and his condition is stable.
Passengers on board Flight FZ1073 described the difficult moments that saw the plane descend sharply and suddenly to a distance of 17,400 feet in less than 120 seconds. "I was absolutely sure I was going to die," one passenger told CNN.
But after the bomber was controlled, the flight was diverted to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where it landed safely thanks to two pilots who were traveling on board as passengers and took over the mission.
Machahar's heroism has come at a heavy cost.
Pictures showed a horrific scene inside the plane after the attack, where blood was scattered in the cockpit, and the pilot appeared seriously injured and lying on the ground, while his face, which reflected pain, was partially covered by a mask.
Dentist Shota Musayev, one of the passengers who helped treat the pilot, told CNN that Mashhar suffered “severe blood loss” and was “severely injured,” adding: “I think if we had waited a few more moments, we would have lost him.” His blood pressure dropped sharply, and he suddenly lost consciousness, and there was blood everywhere.”
For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CNN that the pilot's courage "succeeded in preventing a catastrophe similar to the events of September 11."
