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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited Indian flydubai captain Smit Machchhar to Israel as a guest of honour after Machchhar saved a Tel Aviv-bound flight by resisting an axe attack from the co-pilot. Netanyahu also proposed that Machchhar and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi jointly light a flame during Israel's Independence Day ceremony in May 2027.
Israel’s Prime Minister wants flydubai captain Smit Machchhar and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to light a flame for Israel’s Independence Day in May 2027.
Set as preferred sourceIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited Indian flydubai captain Smit Machchhar to Israel as a guest of honour for his heroic actions during an in-flight attack. Machchhar described how the co-pilot attacked him with an axe after pretending to pray, and how he fought back to open the cockpit door and save the plane.
UAE investigators labelled the incident a "terrorist act," and Netanyahu praised Machchhar as a hero of both India and Israel, planning a joint Independence Day ceremony with Prime Minister Modi. JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Oct 3 invited to Israel as a guest of honour the Indian captain of a Tel Aviv-bound flydubai flight who offered a dramatic account of how he saved the plane after being attacked.
Netanyahu said he wanted Captain Smit Machchhar and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, one of Israel’s key international partners, to light a flame at a national ceremony for Israel’s Independence Day next May, saying the role was usually reserved for Israeli citizens.
“You are a true hero of the brave peoples of India and Israel and you are a hero of the entire world,” Netanyahu said, in a video his office released of his telephone conversation with the hospitalised captain. UAE investigators have said that the co-pilot planned the “terrorist act” by attacking Machchhar with an axe. Asked how the attack unfolded, Machchhar said the co-pilot had asked to take time to pray, as devout Muslims do five times a day.
“A lot of locals, they do pray, which is not out of the ordinary. While he was praying, out of respect, I was just looking at the front and not at the back,” Machchhar said.
“Suddenly, after I think I would say about four to five minutes, there was a big blow to the back of my head. My first thought was that there was catastrophic damage to the aircraft and something is not right.
“But then after that the blows kept coming one after the other. That’s when I realised that it’s not the aircraft, it’s the other guy who was in the cockpit with me. ” While saying his memory was not entirely clear due to his injury, Machchhar said he managed to pull open the cockpit door “but I think he shut it back closed.
” “I had that one last fight left in me,” Machchhar explained, saying he knew he faced certain death if not.
“That’s when I pushed against everything. I gave everything that I had and just went for the door and opened the door and thankfully people were waiting. ” AFP
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