Bombay (India) (AFP) – Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, who helped avoid a tragedy during the Dubai-Tel Aviv flight on Wednesday, showed courage praised by all sides but which resembles him according to those close to him.

Published on: 02/10/2026 - 14:36

His act of bravery - opening the cockpit door despite being stabbed by the co-pilot - prevented the Boeing 737 with 174 people on board, including 166 Israelis, from crashing.

For friends and neighbors in the suburban neighborhood of Bombay, India's economic capital, where the thirty-year-old's parents live, this courage is not surprising.

They describe Smit Machchhar, a pilot for 17 years and captain for 11 years, as a gentle, helpful and “always smiling” man. With a calm temperament, he always showed composure.

"We expected nothing less from him" and his courage "did not surprise us", told AFP Akshay Doshi, who lives in his parents' building and has known the pilot for around fifteen years.

“He saved lives when he himself was in danger. And this, in mid-flight, while he was piloting the plane while injured,” said Laxmikant Joshi, another neighbor.

Thursday, during a telephone exchange with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the video of which was published on social networks, Mr. Machchhar confided that he had sought to “save his life”, while knowing that he could “not let all these people die”.

From his hospital bed in the United Arab Emirates, with his head bandaged and an oxygen tube in his nose, recognizing that a long recovery awaited him, the pilot recounted how he realized the plane was falling as he lay injured, and how he reacted in a last-ditch effort.

- "Hero" -

“I was still being beaten at that time, but I just opened the door and everyone came in,” he told Modi, who called him a “hero”.

A term also used by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who praised Wednesday "an incredible act of heroism - on the part (of a passenger), of the Indian pilot, of the people who helped them".

During the fight, Smit Machchhar said he recited a prayer dedicated to the Hindu deity Hanuman, the monkey god embodying strength, courage and dedication. “I know that God himself saved me.”

But according to him, it was his long years spent flying planes that allowed him to quickly understand what was happening even when he was injured.

Before joining flydubai, he worked for 11 years for the Indian company SpiceJet.

In a podcast in 2025, Mr. Machchhar told how he discovered a passion for aviation at the age of 19 after a conference, while he was studying management to join the family textile business.

He described his first commercial flight as a "scary" experience because of the responsibilities it entailed, but said he learned to manage the pressure. “Worrying is useless, at least in this sector,” he said.

“You have accomplished something so remarkable that people across the country and around the world are eager to see you and talk to you,” Modi told him.

The online media JBN (JewishBreakingNews.com) opened a prize pool for the “hero of Dubai-Israel” pilot which totaled more than $110,000 on Thursday. At the same time, Israeli-American travel influencer Tal Dooreck also opened a joint online fund to raise $35,000. As soon as the amount is reached, she wants to go meet him in person.

© 2026 AFP

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