‘A hero’: Trump hails Indian captain after Flydubai attack, calls co-pilot ‘perhaps a terrorist’
US President Donald Trump has hailed Indian Flydubai captain Smit Machchhar as “a hero” after he was stabbed by his co-pilot during a mid-air attack on an Israel-bound flight.“In a way he was a hero,” Trump said of Machchhar, saying the badly wounded pilot still managed to open the cockpit door and call for help.Trump, while speaking about the incident, also described the co-pilot as “perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job”, as the motive behind the attack remained under investigation.The Dubai-to-Tel Aviv Flydubai flight plunged thousands of feet during the confrontation in the cockpit, triggering panic among passengers. The aircraft was eventually diverted and landed safely in Saudi Arabia.US says no credible threats after Flydubai incidentUS homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin said there were currently “no credible threats” directed at the United States following the incident.“We have no credible threats to us right now. We take every incident like this very serious, and we continue to look at the procedures that we have in place and continue to make sure the American people are safe,” Mullin said, according to Fox News.The statement came as aviation authorities reviewed security procedures following the attack on the Flydubai flight.Indian captain helped passengers overpower attackerThe captain was identified as Indian national Smit Machchhar, a seasoned pilot with more than 13 years of commercial aviation experience. He has around 9,750 flying hours, predominantly on Boeing 737 aircraft, and previously spent about 11 years with SpiceJet, where he served as a Line Training Captain, news agency ANI reported.Despite suffering serious stab wounds, Machchhar reportedly managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to enter and restrain the attacker.
