UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has honoured flydubai pilot Captain Smit Machchhar and the crew of Flight FZ1073 with the First Class Order of Zayed II, after they saved everyone on board during a mid-air attack on 30 September. The award was presented in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
What happened on Flight FZ1073
Flight FZ1073 was travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv on 30 September when co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami attacked Captain Machchhar inside the cockpit with an emergency axe. Despite a serious head injury, the captain managed to open the cockpit door so crew members and passengers could come in and overpower the attacker. During the struggle the plane plunged 16,000 feet in 30 seconds. Two off-duty pilots who were travelling on board then took control and landed the aircraft safely at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia. All 174 people on board survived.
The captain’s injuries and recovery
Captain Machchhar, 38, suffered a depressed skull fracture in the attack and needed emergency surgery in Tabuk before being moved to Abu Dhabi for further treatment. At Tuesday’s ceremony he was seen with stitches on the back of his head and his left arm in a sling. When the president asked how long his arm would take to heal, the pilot replied two months. The president joked that when he heals, he will give him a fighting training session, and the pilot replied that it would be his biggest honour.
What prosecutors say about the co-pilot
UAE prosecutors have said the co-pilot planned to crash the plane into Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport in a suicide attack inspired by the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US. They say he admitted the hijack attempt and had visited Tel Aviv at least twice before to study the flight route and the airport. The captain has been praised as a hero internationally, including by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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