"Opened Cockpit Door and It Was Already Covered in Blood"... The 'Hero' Who Saved 174 Lives Amidst a Knife Rampage

It has been confirmed that the captain who fought fiercely against a copilot trying to intentionally crash a passenger plane and successfully saved the aircraft is a veteran pilot with nearly 10,000 hours of flight experience.

According to Reuters, AP, and other news outlets, the pilot who was stabbed with a weapon by the copilot during the flight of a flydubai passenger plane, a low-cost carrier based in the United Arab Emirates, was identified as Captain Smeet Machar, an Indian national.

Originally from Mumbai in western India, he had been working as a captain operating Boeing 737 aircraft for flydubai since June 2022.

Previously, he worked for 11 years at SpiceJet, an Indian low-cost carrier, serving as a senior captain, and from November 2020, he also served as a line training captain evaluating other pilots.

It was reported that he has a total of 9,750 hours of flight experience.

Earlier on the 30th local time, an incident occurred aboard a flydubai passenger plane traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, Israel, in which the copilot stabbed Captain Machar with a weapon.

The passenger plane rapidly descended about 4,267 meters in a short span of less than 30 seconds, and the two engaged in a fierce struggle.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that when the door was opened after Machar unlocked the release button, the floor was already covered in blood.

Passengers and crew members then entered the cockpit through the opened door to subdue the copilot, and two other flydubai pilots who were on board landed the plane in Saudi Arabia.

At the time of the incident, there were 174 passengers on board the plane, including 166 Israelis.

The Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia stated that Machar, who suffered severe stab wounds, is receiving treatment at a hospital and his condition is relatively stable.

Prime Minister Netanyahu praised Machar for saving the passengers despite being stabbed inside the cockpit of a flying passenger plane.

On social media, Prime Minister Netanyahu emphasized, "He prevented a catastrophic mid-air disaster" and "saved the lives of 174 passengers, including Israeli citizens."

Israeli authorities believe that the copilot attempted to take control of the aircraft and crash it along with all the people on board.

Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Kim Kihyun | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.