Netanyahu invites Indian pilot who saved flydubai flight to Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has invited the Indian captain of a flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv to visit Israel as his guest of honour after reportedly saving the aircraft following an attack in the cockpit.

Netanyahu extended the invitation to Captain Smit Machchhar during a telephone conversation, describing him as a hero of both India and Israel as well as the wider world.

“You are a true hero of the brave peoples of India and Israel, and you are a hero of the entire world,” Netanyahu said in a video of the conversation released by his office on Saturday.

The development followed a statement by the UAE Attorney General, Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, who said preliminary findings from an investigation indicated that the co-pilot of the flydubai flight had attempted to carry out what he described as a “terrorist act”.

According to the official UAE news agency, WAM, Al Shamsi said the co-pilot allegedly used the emergency axe in the cockpit to attack the captain before attempting to take control of the aircraft.

“The co-pilot had attempted to carry out a terrorist act” and had “attacked the captain in the cockpit with the emergency axe and tried to take control of the aircraft,” WAM quoted the Attorney General as saying.

The Israel-bound flight was diverted on Wednesday following the incident.

A passenger on board had earlier alleged that one of the pilots attacked the other and attempted to crash the aircraft, reportedly putting the lives of everyone on board at risk.