Calls for honouring flydubai pilot Smit Machchhar with some of India’s most prestigious awards, including Ashoka Chakra, are growing after his heroic handling of the September 30 in-flight emergency.
Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Milind Deora on Friday wrote to the Prime Minister’s Office to award Smit Machchhar with India’s highest civilian award, the Ashoka Chakra, for his bravery on the flydubai flight.
Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Milind Deora on Friday wrote to the Prime Minister’s Office to award Smit Machchhar with India’s highest civilian award, the Ashoka Chakra, for his bravery. “What Captain Machchhar did that day went far beyond the responsibilities of his profession. Faced with an unimaginable situation in mid-air, he put the lives of others before his own and continued to act despite being seriously wounded. “I believe that formally recognising such an act would carry significance far beyond the honour bestowed upon one individual. It would send a powerful message, particularly to our young people, that courage is not confined to the battlefield or to any particular profession,” Deora added.
His actions embody the highest ideals of courage, selflessness and duty,” he wrote to PM Narendra Modi in a letter dated October 2.
He said that as a citizen of Mumbai, he was proud of the flydubai captain being from the same city. Deora said that the award recognises “most conspicuous bravery” and acts of daring, pre-eminent valour or self-sacrifice other than in the face of the enemy. “I therefore respectfully request that the Government of India consider Captain Smit Machchhar for the Ashoka Chakra in recognition of his extraordinary act of bravery,” he urged. It said that despite his serious injuries, Smit Machchhar continued to command flydubai flight FZ1073, which then landed safely in Saudi Arabia.
