{"id":31214,"date":"2026-10-01T17:07:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T17:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=31214"},"modified":"2026-10-01T17:07:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T17:07:19","slug":"smit-ten-world-in-love-with-heroic-indian-pilot-who-saved-israelis-and-beat-social-media-hijacking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=31214","title":{"rendered":"Smit-ten: World in love with heroic Indian pilot who saved Israelis and beat social media hijacking"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-134622612,imgsize-96991,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/calling-the-pilot-a-hero-israeli-pm-benjamin-netanyahu-said-that-despite-being-wounded-machchhar-fought-back.jpg\" alt=\"Smit-ten: World in love with heroic Indian pilot who saved Israelis and beat social media hijacking\" title=\"Calling the pilot a hero, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said that despite being wounded, Machchhar fought back\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"Calling the pilot a hero, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said that despite being wounded, Machchhar fought back\">Calling the pilot a hero, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said that despite being wounded, Machchhar fought back<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>WASHINGTON: The old saying that lies go halfway across the world before truth gets its shoes on was on full display in the hours after the Fly Dubai hijacking episode. What began as a genuine mid-air emergency on flydubai Flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv rapidly spawned a swirl of inaccurate claims, misidentifications, and social-media distortions, and it wasn\u2019t until Israel\u2019s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went public with details of the heroic act by the pilot, Capt Smit Macchchar, whom he clearly identified as Indian, that the world began to acknowledge an extraordinary feat of courage.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"2\"\/>Even US President Donald Trump briefly acknowledged the bravery of the pilot before digressing into a vivid description of how the attacker was taken down by Israeli passengers. \u201cThe pilot, in bad shape, had the sense to open the door!\u201d Trump said, calling him a \u201chero\u201d and adding, \u201cit seems as though the copilot was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job\u201d.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"4\"\/>The MAGA boss later used the episode to shill for Boeing on his Truth Social platform, posting, \u201cCongratulations to the GREAT Boeing Company for producing a plane, the 737 Max, that was able to withstand G Forces and Strain far beyond what it was designed and expected to do. <!-- -->It was an amazing show of precise and powerful structural planning and design.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"9\"\/>\u201cIt is about time that The Boeing Company, which builds, by far, the finest commercial airliners in the sky, was given credit for this airplane\u2019s incredible \u201cgenius!\u201d To Kelly Ortberg, and all of his officers and associates at Boeing, congratulations on a job well done!!!\u201d Trump, chief spokesman for American products, wrote.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"11\"\/>However, many experts acknowledged that but for the heroism of the Indian pilot and the Israeli plumber, who led the passenger effort to subdue the hijacker co-pilot, the plane, regardless of how it was built, may have been dust in the desert. Professional pilots emphasized how extraordinarily difficult Captain Machchhar&#8217;s situation was due to post-9\/11 reinforced cockpit door protocols, which have resulted in cockpit doors being armored and locked to prevent outside entry.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"15\"\/>Pilots pointed out that Machchhar fighting through stab wounds to manually override and unlock the door was the single critical move that allowed off-duty pilots and passengers to breach the cockpit and save the aircraft. <!-- -->Aviators also lauded Machchhar&#8217;s muscle memory and tactical awareness \u2013 squawking the hijacking emergency code, resisting the co-pilot&#8217;s attempts to put the Boeing 737 into a dive, and unlocking the door before losing consciousness or control.<!-- --> Many noted that when the aircraft entered a tailspin and lost altitude, Machchhar held onto the controls long enough to buy time for the door to be opened, calling his actions &#8220;a masterclass in airmanship under pressure.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"21\"\/>Still, the initial hours after the attempted hijacking and crash saw much dust and distortions on social media. Early reporting and online speculation filled information gaps with errors. Some initial accounts and circulating posts described the event in ways that blurred whether it was an external hijacking, an internal cockpit struggle, or something else. Some outlets and social-media claims floated differing nationalities for the pilots, including identifying the captain who was stabbed as Emirati.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"24\"\/>As usual, social media vermin from Pakistan, where most of the world\u2019s most wanted terrorists, from Osama bin Laden to Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, go to roost, jumped in with vile theories of an Indian-Israeli\/RAW-Mossad plot. Some Pakistan-based accounts posted fabricated videos and claims linking a purported RAW operative named Raghav Menon to a plot.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"27\"\/>It wasn\u2019t till Netanyahu himself went on air and confirmed the heroism of Capt Macchchar after ascertaining facts from flyers returning to Tel Aviv that the rest of the world, including Trump, acknowledged the Indian pilot\u2019s role. <!-- -->\u201cI hope the entire nation of India is proud of Capt Machchhar! He is a hero in Israel today!\u201d the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said on Thursday.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"31\"\/>And indeed he is. \u201cIn honor of the Indian pilot who saved all the Israelis, I propose every Israeli order Indian food tomorrow. 10 million Indian lunches ordered tomorrow on Wolt (the Israeli version of Zomato\/Swiggy. It&#8217;s the least we can do,\u201d David Keyes, a former spokesman &amp; advisor to Netanyahu posted on X.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"33\"\/>\u201cI&#8217;m starting a new airline. Just Indian pilots and Israeli passengers. Safest airline in the world,\u201d he joked in another post.<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/world\/middle-east\/smit-ten-world-in-love-with-heroic-indian-pilot-who-saved-israelis-and-beat-social-media-hijacking\/articleshow\/134622100.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Calling the pilot a hero, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said that despite being wounded, Machchhar fought back WASHINGTON: The old saying that lies go halfway across the world before truth gets its shoes on was on full display in the hours after the Fly Dubai hijacking episode. What began as a genuine mid-air emergency on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-31"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/calling-the-pilot-a-hero-israeli-pm-benjamin-netanyahu-said-that-despite-being-wounded-machchhar-fou-150x150.avif","medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/calling-the-pilot-a-hero-israeli-pm-benjamin-netanyahu-said-that-despite-being-wounded-machchhar-fou-300x169.avif","medium_large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/calling-the-pilot-a-hero-israeli-pm-benjamin-netanyahu-said-that-despite-being-wounded-machchhar-fou.avif","large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/calling-the-pilot-a-hero-israeli-pm-benjamin-netanyahu-said-that-despite-being-wounded-machchhar-fou.avif","1536x1536":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/calling-the-pilot-a-hero-israeli-pm-benjamin-netanyahu-said-that-despite-being-wounded-machchhar-fou.avif","2048x2048":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/calling-the-pilot-a-hero-israeli-pm-benjamin-netanyahu-said-that-despite-being-wounded-machchhar-fou.avif","blogsy-small":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/calling-the-pilot-a-hero-israeli-pm-benjamin-netanyahu-said-that-despite-being-wounded-machchhar-fou.avif","blogsy-small-tall":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/calling-the-pilot-a-hero-israeli-pm-benjamin-netanyahu-said-that-despite-being-wounded-machchhar-fou.avif","blogsy-small-square":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/calling-the-pilot-a-hero-israeli-pm-benjamin-netanyahu-said-that-despite-being-wounded-machchhar-fou.avif","blogsy-small-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/calling-the-pilot-a-hero-israeli-pm-benjamin-netanyahu-said-that-despite-being-wounded-machchhar-fou.avif","blogsy-medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/calling-the-pilot-a-hero-israeli-pm-benjamin-netanyahu-said-that-despite-being-wounded-machchhar-fou.avif","blogsy-medium-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/calling-the-pilot-a-hero-israeli-pm-benjamin-netanyahu-said-that-despite-being-wounded-machchhar-fou.avif","blogsy-large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/calling-the-pilot-a-hero-israeli-pm-benjamin-netanyahu-said-that-despite-being-wounded-machchhar-fou.avif","blogsy-wide":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/calling-the-pilot-a-hero-israeli-pm-benjamin-netanyahu-said-that-despite-being-wounded-machchhar-fou.avif"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"Calling the pilot a hero, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said that despite being wounded, Machchhar fought back WASHINGTON: The old saying that lies go halfway across the world before truth gets its shoes on was on full display in the hours after the Fly Dubai hijacking episode. What began as a genuine mid-air emergency on [&hellip;]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":2,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":4,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/calling-the-pilot-a-hero-israeli-pm-benjamin-netanyahu-said-that-despite-being-wounded-machchhar-fou.avif",400,225,false],"medium":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/calling-the-pilot-a-hero-israeli-pm-benjamin-netanyahu-said-that-despite-being-wounded-machchhar-fou-300x169.avif",300,169,true],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/calling-the-pilot-a-hero-israeli-pm-benjamin-netanyahu-said-that-despite-being-wounded-machchhar-fou-150x150.avif",150,150,true]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/author\/admin"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"<a href=\"#\" class=\"category-link category-link-31\">\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}