Captain Smit Machchhar: The Courage to Fight for Every Life on Board

Rajkumari Sharma Tankha

It is truly said that heroes are not born, they are made. These men and women are created in moments of exigency. Heroism is revealed during the times when everything is going wrong – not by words, but actions. The one who rises to a difficult situation becomes a hero, the one who doesn’t goes into the history unrecognised.

Captain Smit Machchhar is one hero whose moment of becoming came at thousands of feet above the ground on September 30, when what should have been a routine flight (Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv) suddenly became a fight for survival.

Machchhar, an Indian national and the pilot-in-command of Flight FZ1073, was seriously injured when his co-pilot turned against him, stabbing him multiple times. While the Captain withstood this unexpected attack, his Boeing 737 MAX 8, carrying 174 passengers along with crew, went into a deep descent. Flight-tracking data shows the aircraft lost thousands of feet in just a few seconds. But the Captain neither gave in, nor left any chance to save the 174 lives.

Despite his injuries, Machchhar managed to open the cockpit door

Profusely bleeding, he fought back his attacker, and managed to open the cockpit door and sought passengers’ help. With cockpit opened, passengers and others on board quickly entered and took both the attacker and the plane under control. Perchance of destiny, there were some pilots travelling on the aircraft as passengers who salvaged the plummeting aircraft. The aircraft was ultimately brought safely to the ground, at Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

It is difficult to imagine what it takes to remain focused when you are injured, frightened and also aware that hundreds of lives depend on you. But one swift action and presence of mind during such a time is precisely what makes Machchhar’s actions so heroic.

Courage When There Is No Room for Fear

Pilots are trained to deal with emergencies. They are expected to remain calm, follow procedures and make split-second decisions under immense pressure. But training doesn’t make a person immune to fear or pain. And no amount of training can truly prepare a captain for mutiny in his own cockpit.

And this is what happened aboard FZ1073. It was extraordinary because the threat came from within the cockpit itself — the very place from which the safety and security of everyone onboard is entrusted.

Manual checklists fade away in the face of life-and-death situation – what is left is morals and raw instinct one has. Machchhar was seriously injured, but took an action that allowed others to intervene. That is courage in its most practical form. Courage – not for applause or recognition, but for thinking that there were lives entrusted upon him, and working to save them.

Heroism doesn’t only mean fighting goons alone, like they show in films. A hero is also the one who is wise enough to know when to seek help. Sometimes, the greatest act of courage is creating an opportunity for others to act. Sometimes, it is simply choosing to do what must be done – in the face all adversity. And this is something Machchhar did.

The Passengers Were Heroes Too

The story of FZ1073 is therefore not only about one man, its also about passengers, who acted without batting an eyelid. This, despite the fact that they had every reason to be terrified – they were in an aircraft that was rapidly descending, a badly-injured pilot and a violent and armed co-pilot in the cockpit. Yet they chose to act.

That collective response — the captain’s determination, the passengers’ intervention — was what prevented what could have been a huge tragedy.

What People Like Captain Machchhar Mean to India

We often measure a country for its economic and military strength, technological capability and infrastructure. But the real strength of a society lies in the character of its people. People who remain responsible even when the responsibility is difficult. Those who help when there is nothing to gain. People who put the safety of others before their own immediate comfort. Those who do their duty even when walking away is much easier.

Captain Smit Machchhar represents that special kind of human strength that whole India is proud of!