Trump recounts wild Flydubai cockpit attack, ‘Terrorist or whack job? hails Indian pilot as hero
By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump on Thursday has hailed Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar as a “hero” after the violent cockpit incident aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073, while cautioned that some of the extraordinary details he was recounting had not been established.
Flydubai has temporarily suspended flights to and from Israel as investigators examine the violent cockpit incident that forced FZ1073 to divert to Saudi Arabia
Trump said he discussed the incident “at length” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He described the co-pilot as “perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job”, but acknowledged that the motive behind the attack remained unclear.
“I think it’s an incredible story,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “But I did speak to Bibi Netanyahu at length about this event.”
Trump said the Indian captain was badly wounded but still managed to get the cockpit door open, allowing others on board to intervene.
“The pilot was in very bad shape, and I guess he still is in very bad shape,” Trump said, before described Machchhar as a “hero” for opening the door.
Trump said the cockpit doors could not normally be opened from outside and credited the injured captain with creating an opportunity for passengers and crew to respond.
India’s Embassy in Israel and Israeli officials also praised Machchhar for his actions after he was injured.
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs described him as a hero and said he fought back after being stabbed and managed to unlock the cockpit door despite his injuries.
Trump also described the intervention of an Israeli passenger who, according to the account he received, entered the cockpit as the aircraft was descending sharply.
He said an Israeli plumber with little flying experience pulled the alleged attacker away from the controls and helped level the aircraft.
Trump immediately qualified the account.
“Now, this is the story that I heard. I don’t know if it’s true, but that’s the story that I got from Bibi,” he said.
The passenger has been identified as Yaniv Hayoun. Netanyahu later met him and praised his actions.
According to reports, Hayoun said he and other passengers forced their way into the cockpit, restrained the alleged attacker and helped regain control before additional flight crew took over.
Trump said the passenger had told him that knowledge picked up from watching the television programme ‘Air Disasters’ helped him understand what to do.
“He learned from watching that show sort of how to fly,” Trump said. “I mean, you tell me, this is the craziest thing.”
Trump stopped short of asserting that the co-pilot deliberately tried to crash the aircraft.
“They said he wanted to crash. They don’t know that. They don’t know that kind of information,” he said.
Netanyahu had said one pilot stabbed another and “apparently tried to crash the plane”, while confirming that the aircraft landed safely in Tabuk and that the alleged attacker was arrested by Saudi authorities.
The motive remains under investigation.
Israel’s Ambassador to India Reuven Azar praised the courage shown by Machchhar and others aboard the aircraft.
India’s Embassy in Israel separately saluted Machchhar for his “courage,
Captain Machchhar was described in the supplied material as a direct-entry captain with Flydubai with more than 13 years of commercial aviation experience and 9,750 flying hours, most of them on Boeing 737 aircraft.
Before joining Flydubai, he spent 11 years with an Indian airline and served as a Line Training Captain.
