Washington, DC: US President Donald Trump has praised Indian pilot Smit Machchhar as a “hero” after he reportedly fought off a knife attack by his co-pilot and helped prevent a potentially catastrophic incident aboard a flydubai flight bound for Israel.
Trump said Machchhar, despite being seriously injured, managed to open the cockpit door and call for help after the co-pilot allegedly attacked him. The flight was subsequently diverted and landed in Saudi Arabia.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said he discussed the incident at length with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also praised the Indian pilot’s actions.
President Trump praises Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar as a hero after he reportedly saved 174 lives despite being stabbed mid-flight#SmitMachchhar #IndianPilot #CaptainSmitMachchhar #Trump #Aviation #Hero #IndiaNews pic.twitter.com/vjcu5wqfAb
— NewsMobile (@NewsMobileIndia) October 1, 2026
“The pilot was in very bad shape; I guess he still is in very bad shape, but he had the sense to, in a way, he was a hero,” Trump said.
According to Trump’s account, the co-pilot stabbed Machchhar before the Indian pilot managed to open the cockpit door and raise the alarm.
“It seems as though the co-pilot was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack-job, and he stabbed the pilot,” Trump said.
Trump also described a dramatic intervention by an Israeli passenger aboard the aircraft. He said the passenger, whom he identified as a plumber with no aviation experience, entered the cockpit after the door was opened, pulled the co-pilot from his seat and threw him backward, allowing other passengers to help restrain him.
The passenger later told Netanyahu, according to Trump, that he had picked up some basic knowledge of flying by watching the television program “Air Disasters.”
“He said he watches it a lot, and he learned from watching that show sort of how to fly,” Trump said.
Trump said additional pilots and security personnel who had been seated toward the rear of the aircraft subsequently reached the cockpit and took control.
He described the episode as “the most amazing story,” while stressing that he was recounting information provided to him and had not independently verified all the details.
“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 and from a couple of probably early sources,” Trump said.
The incident has drawn widespread attention to Machchhar, with Trump and Netanyahu among those praising the Indian pilot for his actions during the reported cockpit confrontation.
