Arvind Kejriwal, national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party, publicly lauded Indian pilot Smit Machchhar for his bravery in preventing a potential crash of a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. In a post on X, Kejriwal praised the captain’s extraordinary courage, noting that he risked his own life to protect the 174 passengers aboard.
The incident occurred on flight FZ1073, which had transmitted emergency signals on Wednesday. The aircraft made a sharp descent of more than 17,000 feet from an altitude of 34,000 feet before diverting to Prince Sultan Bin Abdel Aziz Airport in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where it made an emergency landing.
Video footage shared on social media shows Captain Machchhar drenched in blood, wearing an oxygen mask and lying on his back in the galley of the aircraft.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that the flight made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. The Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia posted that the pilot has been admitted to a hospital in Tabuk city and is receiving medical attention. The embassy said the captain is in stable condition while a full update on his health is awaited.
