Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, 3 October 2025, spoke directly with flydubai Captain Smit Machchhar over a video call, lauding the Indian pilot's extraordinary response to a mid-air emergency aboard an Israel-bound flydubai flight and saying his bravery had safeguarded not just the aircraft but the reputation of Indian pilots worldwide.

What PM Modi Told Captain Machchhar

Speaking to the 39-year-old pilot, who is currently undergoing treatment in the UAE, Prime Minister Modi underscored the gravity of what could have unfolded had Machchhar not acted decisively. 'Had this not happened, who knows what India would have had to face, what all Indian pilots would have had to endure, and how Indian pilots would have been viewed. You have saved everyone. You have done a very big thing,' Modi told Machchhar during the call.

The Prime Minister further described the episode as a demonstration of the courage and values that define Indians. 'The country can proudly say that Indians are not those who take lives, but those who are willing to risk their lives to save others,' he said.

Machchhar Recounts the Ordeal

During the conversation, Captain Machchhar — a father of two — described the harrowing sequence of events, revealing he had been reciting the Hanuman Chalisa as he attempted to fend off the assault. 'I had suffered so many injuries, but I told myself that I had to get up and act. If I did not, I would be dead,' he told the Prime Minister.

According to reports, Machchhar reportedly fought off his Omani co-pilot, who allegedly tried to seize control of the aircraft during a mid-air altercation. Despite sustaining serious injuries, the captain managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to enter the cabin and physically restrain the attacker. The intervention reportedly averted what appeared to be an attempted hijacking of the Tel Aviv-bound flight, which had more than 170 people on board.

Social Media Debate and the Broader Context

The incident triggered a wave of discussion on social media, with several posts on X raising questions about how responsibility might have been assigned had the aircraft come down. Some users argued that the Indian captain could have faced scrutiny despite the circumstances. PM Modi did not directly address those posts during the call, but his remarks were widely seen as a pointed rebuttal to that narrative.

Notably, the conversation comes at a time when attention remains sharply focused on the investigation into the 2025 Air India flight AI171 crash in Ahmedabad. That tragedy — in which Air India's Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner came down on 12 June 2025, shortly after taking off for London — claimed 241 of the 242 people on board, and killed 19 people on the ground. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) probe into that crash has been described by the government as being at an advanced stage. The juxtaposition of the two incidents has intensified public debate about the treatment and perception of Indian aviation professionals.

flydubai Suspends Israel Flights

Meanwhile, the investigation into the flydubai mid-air incident remains ongoing. The airline has temporarily suspended all flights to and from Israel following Wednesday's altercation, pending the outcome of the inquiry. Captain Machchhar has received international praise for his conduct, with aviation observers calling the response a textbook example of pilot composure under extreme duress.

The episode is likely to renew calls for stronger cockpit security protocols on routes into conflict-adjacent zones, with regulators in multiple countries expected to examine the circumstances closely.