'Aviation was not a childhood dream': The journey of Flydubai captain Smit Machchhar

Captain Smit Machchhar, the Flydubai pilot who fought off with his co-pilot during an in-flight emergency and helped prevent the aircraft from crashing, did not grow up dreaming of becoming a pilot.

"Aviation was not like a childhood dream. It came along much later in my life," Macchhar said in a podcast conversation with Zalak Mehta in October 2025.

Machchhar, an Indian captain flying for Dubai-based Flydubai, was at the controls of a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight when his co-pilot, an Omani national, allegedly stabbed him and attempted to crash the aircraft.

The Indian pilot fought back, and the aircraft made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. There were 174 passengers on board, with Israeli passengers later helping subdue the co-pilot.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday praised Macchhar, saying: "Captain Smit Machchhar has shown the world the highest form of courage. Without fearing for his own life, he fought valiantly and prevented another 9/11 like attack from happening. 140 crore Indians salute Captain Smit and are praying for his well-being."

But Machchhar's own account of his journey into aviation begins much earlier, with a family business and a management course.

Read More: 'He prevented another 9/11': Netanyahu on flydubai Dubai-Tel Aviv flight passenger who steadied plunging aircraft

From textile engineering to aviation

After school, Machchhar joined a textile engineering course because it was connected to his family business.

"I've actually joined a textile engineering course, which was my family business. I finished the entire course and was still young. So I wanted to do a little more studies," he said.

He then decided to pursue management to help grow the family business. It was during that course that he attended an aviation seminar. "And that's where I came across an aviation seminar during the course. That's where the aviation bug (caught) in a way," Macchhar said.

The seminar introduced him to the details of aviation. He was 19 at the time. "It was quite interesting for me. Not that my business wasn't...but this something really appealed, and this is something which I felt that I was attracted towards," he said.

His first flight was in New Zealand

Machchhar went to New Zealand for his flying training. It was also the first time he had left India.

"I did my flying from New Zealand. That was one big change because I had never left the country before that," he said.

He had only taken a couple of domestic flights before going for his pilot training. He recalled being warned before his first flight that he might be scared. "The first flight, I was told "dar lagega, don't look out," he said.

Machchhar said he had always been the kind of person who researched things once he became interested in them. But at the time, researching aviation online was not as easy as it is today.

"In those days, to get something online was to have a phone which would do that for you, it was practically not there to be honest. We used to use those old phones, which barely worked," he said.

He went into the flight with a clear mindset, though he was still scared. "I went with a very clear mindset, but a bit scared. Not nervous, but I was scared," he said.

The flight was a familiarisation flight in a small aircraft as part of his training.

His first commercial flight came during his training, on a route from Bengaluru to Delhi. "That was scary. Not because of the flying part but the responsibility," Macchhar said.

He had passed his checks and made it to an airline, but he was still under training and probation. He was flying with senior examiners, and his nervousness led to mistakes.

"There were a lot of mistakes made. Because the mistakes were because of me being nervous and I was trying to be ahead, but at that stage, relaxing would have been the best option," he said.

His examiners, he recalled, stopped him whenever he made an error and made him think through what had happened.

"Stressing is not going to help at least in this industry," Macchhar said, adding that the experience became easier once the senior examiner helped him settle down.

"So once he eased me into it...half an hour into the flights then it was a very good, enjoyable experience," he said. "But the first 30 minutes to an hour were scary."

More than 13 years of commercial flying

Machchhar is now a Boeing 737 captain with Flydubai. According to his LinkedIn profile, he joined the airline as a Direct Entry Captain in June 2022 and has more than 13 years of commercial flying experience and over 9,750 flying hours.

His profile lists extensive experience on the Boeing 737-800 and 737 MAX 8/9.

Before joining Flydubai, Macchhar spent about 11 years with SpiceJet in Mumbai. He served as a Senior Commander and Line Training Captain and accumulated more than 9,500 flying hours at the airline, including 6,400 hours as pilot-in-command.

He served as a Line Training Captain from November 2020 to June 2022, conducting line training and checks and mentoring other pilots.

Machchhar's listed areas of expertise include crew resource management, flight standards and compliance, pilot mentoring, and Boeing 737 NG and MAX operations.