Recovering Flydubai captain recounts cockpit attack in call with Modi

Recovering in an Abu Dhabi hospital, Capt. Speaking remotely to India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, Smit Machchhar said that despite being wounded and assaulted, he mustered one last effort to get the flight-deck door open. Passengers then entered and restrained the co-pilot, who allegedly stabbed Machchhar as the Flydubai aircraft began a steep descent.³⁴⁶⁹

A struggle in the cockpit

The attack occurred as the flight was approaching Israel, according to CBS News. Reports say the co-pilot stabbed Machchhar during an apparent attempt to seize control and crash the aircraft. The co-pilot has not been publicly identified, and his motive remains under investigation. Reports have described him as an Omani national, although CBS said Oman had not publicly confirmed his nationality.¹²³

Although wounded, Machchhar kept fighting and unlocked the fortified flight-deck entrance, enabling passengers to get inside and subdue the co-pilot. Additional flight crew took control of the Boeing 737 Max and landed it in Tabuk, north-western Saudi Arabia.³⁴⁶

The Straits Times reported that the aircraft lost about 17,000 feet of altitude in one minute. The first indicates a general emergency, while the second signals unlawful interference or a possible hijacking, according to aviation analyst Saj Ahmad.¹⁵

The captain’s account

In a remote conversation with India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, that was shown on television, Machchhar said he forced himself up from the flight-deck floor despite his injuries and managed to reach the door and open it. He said he was fighting for his own life while determined not to let the other people aboard die.³⁴⁶⁹

Machchhar was initially taken to a hospital in Tabuk and later airlifted to Abu Dhabi. The Indian embassy in the UAE said he was in good health and recovering well.⁴⁹

The BBC reported that Machchhar had accumulated more than 9,750 flying hours, including more than 6,400 as pilot-in-command. According to The Guardian, he joined Flydubai roughly four years earlier, following 11 years at SpiceJet in the roles of line training captain and senior commander. The Washington Post reported that he had initially planned to enter his family’s textile business before developing an interest in flying.³⁴⁷

Machchhar is credited with helping prevent the apparent attempt to crash the aircraft. The BBC said the flight-data and cockpit recordings would be important in establishing the precise course of the confrontation.³⁴⁹

Investigation and competing accounts

Saudi authorities arrested the injured co-pilot and treated him for unspecified injuries. CBS News and The Straits Times later reported that he was transferred to the UAE for questioning and further investigation, including examination of possible terrorist intent.²³⁵

Israel described the incident as an attempted terrorist attack. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the co-pilot was an Omani national who appeared suicidal and had undergone Islamist radical indoctrination. U.S. Those claims were attributed to the political leaders and had not been established by the investigation described in the reports.¹²⁵

Israel also said it would strengthen checks on pilots operating flights into the country. Doron Spielman said authorities intended to establish the identities of pilots and conduct some form of security screening before they flew into Israel.¹

Flights disrupted

Flydubai suspended flights to and from Israel after the attack, leaving some Israeli travellers in the UAE, according to The Straits Times. Most of the Israeli passengers from the affected flight were later taken to Israel on a replacement aircraft. El Al said planned additional flights were cancelled because Emirati authorities had not granted landing permission.⁵

A challenge for cockpit security

A co-pilot attempting to overpower a captain in flight is extraordinarily rare, Al Jazeera reported. Following the September 11 attacks, the International Civil Aviation Organization adopted safeguards focused primarily on blocking unapproved cockpit access, such as stronger flight-deck doors, background screening of staff and identity verification at airports. Such doors are intended to withstand forced entry and penetration by small firearms.¹

The 2015 Germanwings catastrophe highlighted another danger: co-pilot Andreas Lubitz prevented the captain from returning to the flight deck and intentionally brought Flight 9525 down in the Alps in France, leaving none of the 150 people on board alive. European regulators temporarily recommended keeping at least two authorized people in the cockpit, and from 2018 European airlines were required to conduct psychological assessments and testing for alcohol and psychoactive substances.¹

The Flydubai case presents the converse problem: an alleged attacker was already authorized to be inside the cockpit. The BBC reported that there is no conventional checklist for an attempt by another person in the cockpit to overpower a pilot, leaving investigators to reconstruct how the crew and passengers responded.¹⁴