Just days ago, an old video of Smit Machchhar was simply another interview with an experienced pilot. Now, after the Indian captain was injured in a terrifying incident aboard a Flydubai flight, the clip has resurfaced online and people are watching it very differently.Machchhar was the captain of Flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv when a violent confrontation broke out in the cockpit on September 30. According to reports, he was stabbed by his co-pilot and still managed to help open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to overpower the attacker. The plane was later diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.Now, an interview Machchhar gave last year to Zalak Mehta is going viral.In the podcast, Machchhar spoke about his journey into aviation and revealed something surprisingly personal: becoming a pilot wasn’t even his childhood dream. And when he eventually chose the career, his mother was scared.
‘My mom was scared’
Machchhar said he had originally expected to join his family’s textile business. After school, he studied textile engineering and later pursued management because he wanted to help with the family business.Then an aviation seminar changed the course of his career.“I was still young so I wanted to do a little more study to help grow the family business, and the obvious course to follow it up was a management course,” he said in the interview.“And that’s where I came across an aviation seminar.”He was only 19 when he decided to pursue flying. His mother, however, wasn’t immediately comfortable with the idea.“My mom was scared,” Machchhar recalled.He explained that aviation was very different at the time and becoming a commercial pilot wasn’t something many people around him were familiar with.“Because aviation today and aviation 15-17 years ago was completely different. You did not hear of a lot of people becoming pilots. So that was one thing that scared mom. The second, of course, was flying,” he said.His father, he added, was calmer about the decision and was more comfortable with him choosing aviation.
Old video gets a new meaning after Flydubai incident
The interview has now taken on a very different meaning after what happened aboard FZ1073.Machchhar, an Indian national and former SpiceJet pilot, has been identified as the captain involved in the incident. He has been a Flydubai captain since 2022 and previously spent around 11 years with SpiceJet, according to reports. His LinkedIn profile lists thousands of hours flying Boeing 737 aircraft.During Wednesday’s flight, the aircraft reportedly experienced a dramatic loss of altitude before diverting to Saudi Arabia. Machchhar was injured during the confrontation but survived, and the passengers were eventually able to reach the cockpit and restrain the other pilot.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also publicly praised Machchhar following the incident.And that’s why the old interview is now drawing so much attention. In the clip, Machchhar was simply talking about a career choice his mother had once feared. A year later, viewers are seeing the same pilot through the lens of an extraordinary cockpit emergency.Machchhar is currently receiving medical treatment in Saudi Arabia. Reports say his parents have travelled to Dubai following the incident.