Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday spoke to flydubai Captain Smit Machchhar, calling him a ‘hero’ for his courageous life-saving actions during a mid-air emergency on September 30.
He invited the flydubai pilot and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Israel’s Independence Day ceremony. On September 30, flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv became witness to an unprecedented incident when an Omani co-pilot, now identified as Hamam al-Hammami, allegedly stabbed Captain Smit Machchhar with an axe in an attempt to bring down the plane. The attack caused the flight to descend more than 17,000 feet within two minutes before the transmission of a hijacking distress signal.
“You are a hero for Israel, India and the entire world,” Netanyahu told Captain Machchhar over a telephone call. “I invite you to light a torch at Israel’s Independence Day ceremony,” the Israeli Prime Minister said.
