Inside the cockpit drama: How Captain Smit Machchhar saved 180 passengers from a rogue co-pilot

Know how Indian-origin Captain Smit Machchhar saved 180 lives by overpowering a co-pilot during a knife attack on a Dubai-Israel flight.

Captain Smit Machar of Indian origin saved 180 people from a potential catastrophe on Wednesday when he subdued his co-pilot, who had suddenly stabbed him mid-flight, allegedly trying to deliberately crash the Dubai-to-Israel flight. Despite being injured in the process of struggling, Captain Machar managed to land the plane safely. Having flown the Boeing 737 for more than 18 years, this incident stands as the most serious test for a carrier of many critical tests in his career as a pilot.

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A carrier marked with critical in-flight situations

Looking back at his long carrier, Captain Machar has already talked about some of the critical moments he had experienced while flying aircrafts, pointing out the great pressure commercial pilots are often under:

Flying against the weather: Machar has encountered windshear during landing at Mykonos airport in Greece which made the aircraft deviate from the path and the captain had to perform an emergency maneuver to land the plane safely.

Medical emergency mid-flight: Once on a flight, one of the passengers started giving birth unexpectedly. Machar was preparing for emergency landing while cabin crew safely delivered the baby.

Repositioning amidst high-stake pressure: During the 2018-2019 period when worldwide grounding directives were issued for the Boeing 737 Max jets, Captain Machar flew an unmanned Max aircraft from Mumbai to Ahmedabad for repositioning in a heavily regulated environment.

Dampening passenger agitation: On one of the flights where passengers became irate due to the delay, Machar exited the flight deck and interacted personally with the aggrieved passengers, successfully easing their agitation.

Passenger safety paramount

Wednesday's terror incident at the Dubai-Israel airline route brings into perspective the great burden borne by the flight crew members. Captain Machar's timely response spared a potential disaster; Captain Machar is indeed a professional pilot who values passenger safety above all else.

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