AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat government was quick to respond to the bravery of Flydubai captain Smit Machchhar, as Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel announced Vishishtha Gujarat Garima Award for him on Thursday. Patel celebrated Machchhar’s “humanitarian act” and said he brought pride to Gujarat and India.
Patel said that the captain continued to display “indomitable courage” despite being injured in the alleged cockpit attack and helped save the lives of 174 passengers. “The entire world is saluting the bravery of Captain Smit Machchhar. … This is truly inspiring and commendable,” Patel said.
The international praise for Machchhar, which includes appreciation from US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Ministe Benjamin Netanyahu, has brought his Gujarat connection into focus.
Machchhar, who is now in his mid-30s, hails from Wadhwan in Surendranagar district, while his in-laws reside in Savarkundla in Amreli district. His family is now settled in Ghatkopar in Mumbai.
His brother-in-law Hiren Jogi said that the family was relieved after receiving updates about Machchhar’s condition and expressed pride in the captain’s actions during the emergency. “The courage Smit displayed while saving the lives of 174 passengers during the incident is truly commendable. He is currently undergoing treatment. We have spoken with his father-in-law, who is my uncle, to get updates about the incident,” Jogi said.
Interestingly, Machchhar did not have plans to become a pilot. After completing school, he enrolled in textile engineering, with plans join and manage his family’s textile business. However, he shifted to aviation after attending a seminar on the subject at 19.
Recalling the turning point in a 2025 interview, Machchhar said that aviation “was not a childhood dream” and came into his life much later. The seminar introduced him to professional flying and sparked an interest that eventually pushed him to abandon his earlier career plan.
The decision worried his mother, who was concerned about the risks associated with aviation. His father, however, supported his ambition, researched pilot-training options and helped him pursue the new career path. Machchhar subsequently travelled to New Zealand for training to be a pilot.
After completing the training, he returned to India and joined SpiceJet in 2011. During the over-11-year stay at the airline, he progressed through the ranks to become a senior commander and line-training captain, taking on responsibilities that included training and mentoring other pilots. His professional advancement eventually took him to Flydubai, which he joined in June 2022 as a direct-entry captain. His brother is also a pilot in the same airline.
His professional profile records nearly 9,750 hours of flying experience, including over 6,400 hours as pilot-in-command, largely on Boeing 737 aircraft, including the 737 MAX. That experience was put to a critical test aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073, travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv with 174 passengers.
During the flight, Machchhar was attacked and stabbed by his co-pilot. Despite serious injuries, he managed to activate the cockpit door mechanism, allowing passengers and crew to enter and overpower the attacker. “Smit is a very calm and composed person. He was the most ‘sorted out’ kind of kid in our housing society,” his childhood friend Prateek Gandhi told a news agency.
‘Mechanism for behaviour analysis needed’
A senior airline pilot, with over 16,000 hours of flying experience, has called for a new mechanism to decipher “behaviour and leanings” of pilots.” The airlines do have stringent selection process for the pilots, but it is very difficult to understand the ideological leaning of individuals,” Wing Commander Prashant Karde (Retd) said.
People pray outside pilot’s residence
Hundreds of Tricolour-waving citizens assembled outside the residence of Captain Smit Machchhar in Tilaknagar in the eastern part of Mumbai on Thursday to honour his bravery. Holding his photographs, those assembled outside Swastik Heights residential complex prayed for Machchhar’s quick recovery after being stabbed.
‘A very nice person,’ says fellow pilot
Former GoAir pilot Prakhar Gupta on Thursday recalled meeting Captain Smit Machchhar, in the SpiceJet office in Mumbai just before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. “I was there to appear for an interview for a pilot’s post. That was where I first met Smit, who came across as a very nice person,” Gupta said.