Smit Machchhar, Indian pilot stabbed on flydubai flight, recalls mother’s fear over his career choice: ‘Mom was scared’

Indian pilot Smit Machchhar averted a major aviation disaster on Wednesday when he foiled his co-pilot’s attempt to crash a flydubai plane. Machchhar was covered with blood on the floor when he managed to click the release to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to overpower the co-pilot.Smit Machchhar foiled his co-pilot’s attempt to crash a Flydubai plane.The incident occurred on a flight to Israel on September 30 and has led to accolades for Captain Smit Machchhar, who was hailed a hero Israeli Prime Miner Benjamin Netanyahu.(Also read: flydubai pilot ‘a hero’, plumber steadied plunging aircraft: Trump)In the wake of the near-tragedy, an older interview of Machchhar has been going viral online. The Indian pilot spoke to Zalak Mehta last year on a podcast where he opened up about his journey to becoming a pilot and the unseen challenges of manning the cockpit.During the course of the conversation, Smit Machchhar also revealed that his mother was scared when he decided to take up a career in aviation.On becoming a pilotMachchhar explained that the aviation bug bit him quite late in life. As a child, he had always assumed that he would join his family’s textile business. “Aviation was not a childhood dream. It came much later in life,” he revealed.Machchhar actually joined a textile engineering course after school. It was after completing the engineering course and doing a management course that he first considered becoming a pilot.“I was still young so I wanted to do a little more study to help grow the family business, and the obvious course to follow it up was a management course,” he explained.“And that’s where I came across an aviation seminar,” Machchhar revealed.“I found the details about the aviation course and it was quite interesting for me,” he added.“My mom was scared”Machchhar was all of 19 when he decided to take up a career in aviation. However, his mother was not fully comfortable with his career choice.Asked how his family reacted to his choice of career, Machchhar confessed that his mother feared for his safety.“My mom was scared,” he told the podcast host.“Because aviation today and aviation 15-17 years ago was completely different. You did not hear of a lot of people becoming pilots. So that was one thing that scared mom. The second, of course, was flying,” the Indian pilot said.He added that his father, a “calmer” person, was more comfortable with his decision to become a pilot.The Flydubai incidentFlydubai flight FZ1073, travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, had transmitted emergency signals and made a sharp descent before diverting to Prince Sultan Bin Abdel Aziz Airport in Tabuk on Wednesday.The flight was carrying 174 passengers, including 27 children.It was later reported that the pilot of the flight, an Omani national, had attempted to crash the plane after stabbing Smit Machchhar, who was first officer of the flight.Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana said the people of Israel are praying for Captain Machchhar, who fought off his co-pilot’s mid-air attack to save the Israeli passengers.(Also read: Flydubai incident: Netanyahu says Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar ‘true hero’)”In a moment of terror, he showed extraordinary courage. Today, our hearts are with him and his family,” he said in a post on X.In videos circulated on social media, the pilot can be seen drenched in blood, wearing an oxygen mask and lying on his back in the galley of the aircraft.In his earlier statement, Netanyahu said an Israeli passenger told him that the aircraft went into a spin and began descending, after which the passenger and a crew member managed to break into the cockpit and, together, they overpowered the pilot who had carried out the stabbing while he was attempting to sabotage the aircraft’s systems.Update on Smit MachchharCaptain Smit Machchhar is receiving treatment in Saudi Arabia, where the plane landed after passengers managed to overpower the Omani pilot. His parents have flown to Dubai.Machchhar is from Ghatkopar East in Mumbai and was based in Dubai for work, people aware of the matter told HT. Parag Shah, the Bharatiya Janata Party legislator from Ghatkopar East, said he had spoken to Machchhar’s family and that Machchhar “is safe and receiving treatment”. His parents have left for Dubai, Shah said. “The government is taking care of him,” he said.(Also read: Cockpit stabbing, a 14,000 feet drop, ‘blood everywhere’: How Indian pilot Smit Machchhar saved 174 lives on flydubai plane)