PM Modi speaks to ‘hero’ flydubai pilot Smit Machchaar, hears his account of the ordeal

The knife attack on Smit by the co-pilot inside the cockpit had forced the flight carrying 174 people from Dubai to Tel Aviv, Israel, to make an emergency landing in Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. Smit, 39, is recovering in Abu Dhabi. “In the face of the gravest danger… he showed immense courage and an unwavering resolve to protect the lives of others,” Modi wrote on X.