Smit Machchhar and Neerja Bhanot (Img: Pinterest)
New Delhi: When an emergency unfolds thousands of feet above the ground, there is little time to think and even less room for error. Recent events involving Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar have once again brought attention to aviation professionals who faced extraordinary danger while responsible for the safety of passengers.
Machchhar's actions during the Flydubai Flight FZ1073 emergency have also revived memories of Neerja Bhanot, who became a national symbol of courage after the 1986 hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73. Their circumstances were different, but both incidents involved aviation professionals making critical decisions during life-threatening situations.
On September 30, 2026, Captain Smit Machchhar was piloting Flydubai Flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv when an emergency unfolded inside the cockpit.
According to reports, Machchhar was attacked and seriously injured by his co-pilot while the aircraft was in flight. The Boeing 737 subsequently entered a steep descent.
Despite his injuries, Machchhar managed to open the cockpit door. Passengers and crew members then entered the cockpit and helped restrain the attacker. Two off-duty pilots travelling on the aircraft also assisted in bringing the situation under control.
The aircraft was diverted and eventually landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. All passengers survived.
Machchhar was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment. Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly praised his courage and said his actions helped save lives and avert a major tragedy.
Four decades before the Flydubai incident, Neerja Bhanot found herself at the centre of another aviation crisis.
On September 5, 1986, Pan Am Flight 73 was hijacked after landing at Karachi. Bhanot, who was working as a senior purser, alerted the cockpit crew using the hijack warning protocol. This enabled the pilots to escape from the aircraft and prevented the hijackers from taking the plane into the air.
Bhanot subsequently helped passengers during the crisis. She was fatally shot while attempting to protect passengers, including children.
She was posthumously awarded the Ashoka Chakra in 1987, becoming the first woman and the youngest recipient of the country's highest peacetime gallantry award at the time.
The threats faced by Machchhar and Bhanot were fundamentally different. Bhanot confronted an armed hijacking, while Machchhar faced a violent cockpit emergency involving a fellow crew member.
Yet both incidents placed aviation professionals in situations where decisions made within seconds had consequences for everyone aboard.
Bhanot's actions helped prevent the hijacked aircraft from being flown away and gave passengers a chance to escape. Machchhar's decision to open the cockpit door after being injured allowed others to intervene and helped bring the Flydubai emergency under control.
The history of Indian aviation also includes other figures associated with extraordinary flying missions and emergencies, including Captain Devi Sharan, who was the pilot of the hijacked Indian Airlines IC-814 in 1999, and Biju Patnaik, whose aviation career included wartime and humanitarian missions.
These stories span different eras and circumstances, but they highlight the responsibilities aviation professionals can face when an ordinary flight suddenly turns into an extraordinary crisis.
Captain Smit Machchhar's recent ordeal has therefore renewed public interest in India's aviation history and in the professionals who have confronted danger while carrying the responsibility of protecting those on board.
