Netanyahu wants to honour Indian captain Smit Machchhar and PM Modi on Israel's Independence Day
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Netanyahu wants to honour Indian captain Smit Machchhar and PM Modi on Israel's Independence Day")
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the Fly Dubai Indian pilot Smit Machchhar as a "hero"
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Indian Flydubai pilot Smit Machchhar as a “hero of India, Israel and the world”. Netanyahu wants him to light an Israel Independence Day flame.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the Fly Dubai Indian pilot Smit Machchhar as a "hero of India, Israel and the world" after the pilot recounted how he was repeatedly struck in the cockpit and still managed to open the door so passengers could regain control of the aircraft.
On 30 September, flight FZ1073 was en-route from Dubai to Tel Aviv when the co-pilot attacked the captain and tried to seize control of the aircraft. Despite his injuries, Captain Machchhar opened the cockpit door, allowing crew and passengers to intervene. The jet was diverted and landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, with about 174 people on board. Netanyahu said he wanted Machchhar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to light a flame at a national ceremony marking Israel's Independence Day next May, an honour he said is usually reserved for Israeli citizens.
In a conversation released by the Israeli leader’s office, Captain Smit told Netanyahu that the flight had begun normally. The co-pilot said he wanted to pray, something the captain said was not unusual among local crew. Out of respect, Captain Smit looked forward rather than towards the rear of the cockpit. After four or five minutes, he said, he felt a heavy "blow to the back of his head".
His first thought was that the "aircraft had suffered catastrophic damage". Further blows followed, and he realised the attacker was the co-pilot in the cockpit. He tried to stop him, but the initial strikes left his vision almost completely blurred. He then felt the aircraft drop sharply. His recollection, he said, remained fragmentary.
Also Read: Flydubai co-pilot’s alleged photo goes viral
Captain Smit told the prime minister he managed to open the cockpit door once, only for it to be shut again. He remembered lying on the floor, hearing the rush of air and passengers screaming. “I had that one last fight left in me,” he said. “If I don’t do it, I’m gonna die.” He pushed himself to the door, opened it, and found people waiting outside who took control. “The rest is what you know, sir,” he said.
Mr Netanyahu asked how he had released the door. The captain explained that from inside it opens with a twist of a knob; from outside it can be opened only with a code, which colleagues had tried to enter while the attacker prevented it. Reaching the knob and giving it a short twist was what mattered. “There is no pin,” he said.
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The prime minister called the account remarkable and said he was amazed by the captain’s courage and “coolness of judgment under impossible conditions.” He added that the response was being “justly hailed around the world” and had preserved “the spirit of the world.”
Israel PM Netanyahu said he wanted to invite Captain Smit and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to light a celebratory flame at Israel’s next Independence Day, an honour he said is normally reserved for Israeli citizens. “All the citizens of Israel will embrace you,” he said.
