Trump calls Indian Flydubai pilot Smit Machchhar a ‘hero’, says co-pilot was ‘perhaps a terrorist’

US President Donald Trump has praised Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar as a “hero” after the Flydubai captain was seriously injured in an alleged cockpit attack aboard a flight bound for Israel, while cautioning that details of the incident had not been independently established.

Trump said he had spoken at length with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the incident involving Flydubai flight FZ1073, which was diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after the reported confrontation in the cockpit.

“I think it’s an incredible story,” Trump told reporters at the White House. He said the account he had received suggested that the co-pilot was “perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job” and had stabbed the captain.

Trump described Machchhar as a hero for managing to open the cockpit door despite being badly injured.

“The pilot was in very bad shape, and I guess he still is in very bad shape, but he had the sense to — amazing, to — in a way, he was a hero to open the door,” Trump said.

According to the account Trump said he had received, Machchhar managed to open the cockpit door from inside, allowing passengers and crew members to intervene and restrain the alleged attacker.

Trump further recounted that an Israeli passenger entered the cockpit and helped regain control of the aircraft after what he described as a sharp descent.

He said the passenger had told others that he had watched the television programme “Air Disasters” and had gained some familiarity with aircraft from the show.

Trump, however, repeatedly stressed that the account he was recounting had not been independently verified.

“Now, this is the story that I heard. I don’t know if it’s true, but that’s the story that I got from Bibi,” he said, referring to Netanyahu.

Asked whether the co-pilot had intended to crash the aircraft, Trump again cautioned against drawing conclusions about the motive.

“They said he wanted to crash. They don’t know that. They don’t know that kind of information,” he said.

Flydubai flight FZ1073 was travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30 when an incident occurred in the cockpit, forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing in Tabuk. Captain Machchhar, an Indian national, was injured during the incident and remains under medical care in Saudi Arabia. The Indian Embassy in Riyadh said his condition was stable.

Public reports said passengers and crew members intervened before additional flight crew took control of the aircraft and it landed safely. The motive and circumstances surrounding the cockpit incident remained under investigation.

Trump’s comments came after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Netanyahu separately praised Machchhar for his actions during the emergency. Modi called the pilot a “HERO”, while Netanyahu praised his “extraordinary bravery”.