The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi has issued a health update stating that Flydubai pilot Captain Smit Machchhar, who was seriously injured on September 30 when his co-pilot attacked him, ‘continues to make steady progress and is regaining his health’.

The mission said, in a post on X, that ‘it remains in close touch with his family, doctors and local authorities, extending all possible assistance’.

“We thank everyone for their prayers and wish him a speedy recovery,” it added.

Captain Machchhar was flying FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30 when the co-pilot allegedly attacked him with a crash axe in the cockpit, in what the UAE Attorney General called ‘an attempted terrorist attack’.

One of the passengers, a dentist named Dr. Shota Musaev kept pressure with T-shirts and ice on the wounds sustained by Captain Machchhar even as he bled heavily from the head and left hand.

After about 45 minutes, the aircraft landed in Saudi Arabia, where Machchhar was rushed to the hospital. He was administered emergency treatment there and later shifted to a hospital in Abu Dhabi, where he continues to receive medical care.

On Tuesday this week, Captain Machchhar had a special visitor – Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai.

The Crown Prince spent some time with Machchhar in the hospital room, praising him for demonstrating ‘the highest degrees of courage, responsibility and care for human life’.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed interest in having Captain Machchhar and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi light a flame at a national ceremony marking Israel’s Independence Day in May 2027. – editor@nrifocus.com