Dubai Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence for the UAE, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, today visited Captain Smit Machchhar, the pilot who helped avert a major tragedy after being attacked by his co-pilot aboard a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv.
Following the visit, Sheikh Hamdan took to X and praised Captain Smit for demonstrating “the highest degrees of courage, responsibility, and care for human life.”
He said Captain Smit had earned the full appreciation and praise of the UAE leadership, adding that the UAE was proud to have him as part of its team and its story, and as someone who represented the country’s values of compassion, peace, and respect for human life.
“From us, and from the leadership of the nation, he has our full appreciation and praise. We are proud that he is part of our team… part of the story of our nation… and part of what the UAE stands for… a nation of compassion… a nation of peace… and a nation of life,” said the Dubai Crown Prince in his post.
https://x.com/HamdanMohammed/status/2106338248398446970?s=20
Machchhar was stabbed and seriously injured by his co-pilot in the cockpit of flydubai flight FZ1073, travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, on Wednesday. He has been shifted to Abu Dhabi for continued medical care and recovery after he received initial medical treatment in a hospital in Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk.
The plane carrying 174 people was forced to make an emergency landing in Tabuk in northwest Saudi Arabia.