Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly thanked an Indian pilot, Captain Smit Machchhar, for his bravery after being stabbed by a co-pilot during a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, which made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. In a post on his official X account on Wednesday evening, Netanyahu wrote: "My salute to the Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar for his extraordinary bravery."

According to Netanyahu, despite being stabbed and seriously injured, Machchhar "fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door, and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker – preventing a catastrophic mid-air disaster." He added that Machchhar "saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals," and wished him "a speedy and full recovery." "He is a true hero," Netanyahu said.

The co-pilot accused of stabbing Machchhar in an alleged attempt to seize control of the aircraft remains unidentified, but Netanyahu stated he was arrested after the plane landed in Saudi Arabia. India's embassy in Riyadh posted on X that "the brave Indian pilot of Flydubai" Smit Machchhar was "admitted in a hospital in Tabuk city in northwest Saudi Arabia and receiving necessary medical attention." The embassy said it was awaiting a full update on the pilot's health but that "he is reported to be in stable condition."

Flydubai flight FZ1073 transmitted an emergency alert shortly after takeoff from Dubai on Wednesday morning and made an emergency landing at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia, with all passengers safe and accounted for, according to the airline. Flight-tracking data from Flightradar24 indicated the flight was operated by a Boeing 737 Max 8. A rescue flight operated by Flydubai transported all passengers from Tabuk to their final destination, Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport, at 15:34 GMT. They were received at the airport by Netanyahu, a move that Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid criticized as "cheap politics" ahead of this month's elections.

Source: www.aljazeera.com