Days after Indian pilot Smit Machchhar averted what is now being called a “terrorist attack” after his co-pilot, an Omani national, struck him with an axe on a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight with Israelis on board, in an alleged bid to crash the plane, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday (local time) invited him, along with Prime Minister , to light a flame on Israeli Independence Day.
, who spoke with Machchhar, who is currently in a UAE hospital undergoing treatment, said, “It’s our highest honour that we give on our Independence Day. It’s usually reserved for Israeli citizens, but I think here in this case, all the citizens of Israel will embrace you. They do now, and they will then too. So we hope to see you very soon in Israel.”
The Office of the Prime Minister of Israel posted a video on X and wrote, “You are a hero for Israel, India, and the entire world. I invite Prime Minister @NarendraModi and you to light a flame on Israeli Independence Day.”
The Israeli PM spoke with and sought details about how the incident unfolded, with the former recalling the terrifying moments and revealing new details. Machchhar revealed that before the attack took place, his co-pilot wanted to pray. Recalling the incident, the Indian pilot said, “While he was praying, out of respect, I was just looking at the front and not at the back, and suddenly, after, I would say about four to five minutes, there was a big blow to the back of my head.” He added, “My first thought was that there was catastrophic damage to the aircraft and something was not right. But then after that, the blows kept coming one after the other, and that’s when I realised that it’s not the aircraft; it’s the other guy who was in the cockpit with me.”
Lauding Machchhar for his courage, the Israeli PM credited him with saving so many lives and added, “You’re a hero of Israel. You’re a hero of India. You’re a hero of the entire world.”
The incident took place on Wednesday on flydubai Flight FZ1073 while it was travelling from to Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport with at least 170 people on board. The incident, which was first reported as a “violent altercation” between the two pilots, was later described as a 9/11-style attack. Following the incident, the flight made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk, where it landed at a civilian and military base.
