Captains Courageous

There are moments when a single act of courage stands between catastrophe and survival. Captain Smit Machchhar’s actions aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073 was one such moment.

The routine Wednesday flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv became a potential mass-casualty disaster. The co-pilot allegedly attacked and stabbed Captain Machchhar inside the cockpit as the Boeing 737 plunged nearly 14,000 feet in about 30 seconds. Despite being gravely wounded, Machchhar managed to open the cockpit door, enabling passengers and crew to enter, overpower the attacker and help regain control of the aircraft. Other pilots on board subsequently helped stabilise the aircraft before it made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. All 174 people on board survived.

It is difficult to overstate what Machchhar had to confront in those seconds. He was not merely dealing with an aircraft malfunction or a sudden loss of control. The danger was inside the cockpit itself, from the very person who was supposed to be helping him fly the aircraft. He had been physically attacked, was seriously injured and was simultaneously faced with an aircraft plunging thousands of feet. Yet he retained enough presence of mind to act decisively.

Some early international coverage described the episode in language such as a “fight”, “clash” or “altercation.” Whether investigators ultimately classify it as terrorism, attempted hijacking or another form of deliberate criminal attack remains to be established, the incident was no ordinary “altercation between pilots.” It was a lethal attack inside an aircraft’s cockpit that resulted in a catastrophic descent and an apparent attempt to seize control of the aircraft.

Such a serious incident cannot be conveyed by the word “brawl”. A brawl suggests two people losing their tempers. This incident placed 174 lives in immediate danger.

The fact that the aircraft was carrying a large number of Israeli passengers, including families and children, makes the minor altercation theory ludicrous. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the incident as one in which Machchhar and those who intervened prevented a disaster comparable to 9/11.

Captain Machchhar’s conduct has invited comparisons with Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, whose name became synonymous with cockpit courage after landing US Airways Flight 1549 safely on the Hudson River, except the stakes in Machchhar’s case were higher.

He did what a pilot is trained and expected to do in the worst imaginable circumstances: he put the lives of his passengers before his own. His training alone does not explain the extraordinary composure that is required when the person sitting beside you has attacked you and the aircraft is in a steep descent.

Captain Machchhar has displayed extraordinary courage and deserves to be a household name. India can rightly salute him while the world waits for investigators to establish exactly what happened and why.