Flydubai Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian national and former SpiceJet pilot, has been identified in media reports as the captain involved in the dramatic cockpit incident aboard flight FZ1073 that forced the aircraft to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
The Flydubai Boeing 737 MAX 8 was flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday when an altercation reportedly broke out between the captain and co-pilot. The aircraft, carrying around 180 people, subsequently diverted to Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia, where it landed safely.
Reports said Machchhar was attacked by the co-pilot during the flight and helped prevent the situation from escalating. However, the precise sequence of events and the circumstances surrounding the altercation remain under investigation.
Flydubai confirmed that an “altercation occurred in the flight deck” of FZ1073. The airline said the aircraft was “successfully secured by on-duty flydubai crew travelling on the flight”, which then diverted and landed safely at Tabuk Airport. Both pilots were reportedly injured and taken to hospital.
Flight-tracking data showed the aircraft undergoing a sharp descent during the incident. Reports based on flight-tracking information said the aircraft dropped from around 34,000 feet to below 20,000 feet in a short period, before the crew regained control and the flight diverted towards Tabuk.
Flydubai said it had deployed two replacement aircraft to Tabuk to transport passengers and crew onward. The airline also stressed that the underlying reasons and motives behind the incident were not known at this stage and remained subject to a formal investigation.
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The incident initially triggered fears of a hijacking after the aircraft transmitted emergency signals, including the 7500 code associated with unlawful interference. Israeli fighter jets were reportedly scrambled as authorities responded to the alert.
Passenger accounts described scenes of panic during the incident. One passenger told reporters that the aircraft appeared to be out of control during the confrontation and alleged that passengers intervened to help restrain the co-pilot. A doctor travelling on the flight also reportedly provided first aid.
Israeli officials have described the incident as a possible terrorist attack, with Defence Minister Israel Katz alleging that the attacker sought to crash the aircraft. Those claims have not been independently established, and the airline has cautioned against drawing conclusions before the formal investigation is completed.
Machchhar, according to reports and information on his professional profile, joined Flydubai in June 2022 as a direct-entry captain. He previously spent more than 11 years with SpiceJet, where he served as a senior commander and later as a Line Training Captain.
His professional profile states that he has more than 13 years of commercial aviation experience and around 9,750 hours of flying experience on Boeing 737 aircraft, including the B737-800 and B737 MAX 8/9. During his tenure at SpiceJet, he reportedly accumulated more than 9,500 flying hours, including over 6,400 hours as pilot-in-command.
Machchhar also carried out line training, pilot checks and mentoring during his aviation career.
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