Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the Indian Captain Smit Machchhar , who was wounded in an altercation with his copilot who allegedly tried to crash a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight on Wednesday (September 30, 2026).
Machchhar saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals. Machchhar has flown more than 9,500 hours, including over 6,400 hours as Pilot In Command (PIC), said his profile, in which he describes himself as an airline captain with over 13 years of commercial flying experience on the Boeing 737 fleet, including extensive time as a Line Training Captain.
Describing him as a “true hero”, Mr. Netanyahu said that “despite being stabbed and seriously injured, he fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door, and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker — preventing a catastrophic mid-air disaster. He said Mr. The Indian captain fought with him to prevent the aircraft from crashing, with Israeli passengers later helping subdue the co-pilot, the report said.
