‘A hero’: Trump on Indian pilot Smit Machchhar after mid-air cockpit attack

The flydubai flight, travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, was forced to make an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after the co-pilot allegedly stabbed Machchhar.

2 min readNew DelhiOct 1, 2026 10:49 AM IST

The plane was carrying 174 people, all of whom survived

US President Donald Trump has praised Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar for fighting his co-pilot, who allegedly stabbed him mid-air aboard a flydubai flight. Trump said he spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the incident, Reuters reported.

Flydubai flight FZ1073, travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30, was forced to make an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after the co-pilot allegedly stabbed Machchhar and attempted to interfere with the aircraft’s controls. The plane was carrying 174 people, all of whom survived

“I spoke to Benjamin Netanyahu about this incident. It seems as though the co-pilot was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job, and he stabbed the pilot. The pilot was in very bad shape. But in a way, he was a hero to open the door,” Trump was quoted as saying by Fox News.

Watch here:

BREAKING: President Trump says the co-pilot who allegedly stabbed the captain of an Israel-bound Flydubai jet was “perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job.”

Trump says the badly wounded captain still managed to open the cockpit door and scream for help.

“In a way he was a… pic.twitter.com/osmdBm0tSp

— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 30, 2026

Trump also praised Yaniv Hayoun, an Israeli plumber who was among the passengers who intervened after hearing screams from the cockpit.

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According to accounts of the incident, Hayoun and other passengers entered the cockpit, subdued the attacker, and helped stabilise the aircraft before additional pilots on board took over and landed the plane in Tabuk, The Guardian reported.

Also Read | ‘Aviation wasn’t a childhood dream’: What flydubai pilot Smit Machchhar said in old interview

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also praised Machchhar. “Captain Smit Machchhar is a HERO. In the face of the gravest danger and despite being seriously injured, he showed immense courage and an unwavering resolve to protect the lives of others,” PM Modi wrote in a post on X.

Reuters reported that the aircraft rapidly lost altitude during the incident before passengers and crew intervened. It was eventually diverted to Tabuk, where the injured pilots received medical treatment.

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