Indian Captain Smit Machchhar, who fought off an attack from his co-pilot inside the cockpit of a flydubai plane, will receive Israel’s highest bravery award for civilians, President Isaac Herzog has said.

President Herzog on Thursday (October 8, 2026) presented the Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism to six individuals who were on board the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30, 2026.

“Alongside the Israeli heroes whom we honour today, we send our heartfelt wishes for the full and speedy recovery of Captain Smit Machchhar of India,” Mr. Herzog said during the ceremony that took place at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem.

Mr. Machchhar’s “sheer courage and bravery and sound professionalism helped avert this catastrophe. Once he regains strength, it will be my honour and privilege to award him, on behalf of the people of Israel, the State of Israel’s Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism,” he said.

The Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism is Israel’s highest civilian award for heroism. Established by President Herzog after October 7th, it expresses the State of Israel’s recognition of individuals who acted with exceptional heroism, at real risk to their own lives, out of mutual responsibility, and in order to save human life, according to the President’s Office.

The award was presented to Tali Manes, Zvika Manes, Yaniv Hayoun, Shota Musayev, Asaf Rajuan, and Or Pardilov during the ceremony for their role in preventing the would-be hijacker from crashing the plane, the President’s Office said.

He went on to praise the heroes of flight 1073 for their “simple, human, and profoundly Israeli act: At the moment when a choice had to be made – you chose life. For all of this, I award you today the President’s Medal for Civilian Bravery,” Jerusalem Post reported.

On September 30, Mr. Machchhar helped save the lives of 172 passengers and his fellow crew members aboard flydubai Flight 1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv.

He was stabbed by his co-pilot, Omani national Hamam al-Hammami, in an apparent attempt to crash the aircraft.

Mr. Machchhar, who has been hailed as a “hero” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is making steady progress and is regaining his health at a hospital in the United Arab Emirates.

President Herzog said, “There is a profound lesson we must draw from this remarkable story: just as people from different nations joined forces to save that aircraft, so too must the international community stand united against the global threat of terror.”

“Yesterday we marked the third anniversary of the single most barbaric, murderous attack on the State of Israel and its citizens. October 7, 2023, scarred the Israeli people irrevocably, and the trauma will be palpable for generations. We have learned, through painful sacrifice, what it means to face an existential threat.”

“And we have learned that confronting it requires foresight, determination, and, above all, international cooperation in fighting terror. I have absolute confidence in the thorough investigation conducted by our dear friends in the United Arab Emirates, whom we greatly respect.”

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday (October 3, 2026) invited to Israel as a guest of honour the Indian captain of a Tel Aviv-bound flydubai flight who offered a dramatic account of how he saved the plane after being attacked.

Mr. Netanyahu said he wanted Captain Smit Machchhar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, one of Israel’s key international partners, to light a flame at a national ceremony for Israel’s Independence Day next May, saying the role was usually reserved for Israeli citizens.

“You are a true hero of the brave peoples of India and Israel and you are a hero of the entire world,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a video his office released of his telephone conversation with the hospitalised captain.

UAE investigators have said that the co-pilot planned the “terrorist act” by attacking Mr. Machchhar with an axe.

Asked how the attack unfolded, Mr. Machchhar said the co-pilot had asked to take time to pray, as devout Muslims do five times a day.

“A lot of locals, they do pray, which is not out of the ordinary. While he was praying, out of respect, I was just looking at the front and not at the back,” Mr. Machchhar said.

“Suddenly after I think I would say about four to five minutes, there was a big blow to the back of my head. My first thought was that there was catastrophic damage to the aircraft and something is not right.

“But then after that the blows kept coming one after the other. That’s when I realised that it’s not the aircraft, it’s the other guy who was in the cockpit with me.”

While saying his memory was not entirely clear due to his injury, Mr. Machchhar said he managed to pull open the cockpit door “but I think he shut it back closed.”

“I had that one last fight left in me,” Mr.Machchhar explained, saying he knew he faced certain death if not.

“That’s when I pushed against everything. I gave everything that I had and just went for the door and opened the door and thankfully people were waiting.”

A flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv narrowly avoided disaster after one of its pilots allegedly tried to stab his colleague, Indian national Smit Machchhar, sending the aircraft into a steep plunge before it made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. The sequence of events was outlined in a video message by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the co-pilot who allegedly stabbed the pilot had intended to crash the aircraft.

A co-pilot of a flydubai aircraft carrying more than 170 passengers from Dubai to Tel Aviv allegedly stabbed the pilot and attempted to crash the plane. The struggle began when the pilot was stabbed, sending the aircraft plunging nearly 14,000 feet. A possible crash was averted after a passenger and crew members entered the cockpit and managed to stabilise the aircraft.

The jet had plunged more than 14,000 feet (4,300 metres) in less than 30 seconds, reportedly reaching close to the speed of sound. The intervention by the passengers and crew likely helped avert a disaster.

Follow complete coverage of the incident from The Hindu

U.S. President Donald Trump hailed the flydubai pilot as a “hero” for fighting off a knife attack from the co-pilot, opening the cockpit door and calling for help to foil a bid to crash the aircraft.

Interacting with reporters at the Oval Office, Mr. Trump said he spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who told him that a plumber, who had never flown an aircraft, made a dramatic intervention to steady the Dubai-Tel Aviv flight which landed in Saudi Arabia.

The pilot who staved off the attempt to crash the aircraft has been identified as Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, and hailed a “hero” by Mr. Netanyahu and many others.

“The pilot was in very bad shape; I guess he still is in very bad shape, but he had the sense to, amazing, to, in a way he was a hero,” Mr. Trump said, recalling his conversation with Netanyahu.

Mr. Trump said the pilot opened the door and was able to fall back, get the door open and scream for help.

“It seems as though the co-pilot was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job, and he stabbed the pilot,” the U.S. President said.

Mr. Trump then described what he called an “amazing” intervention by an Israeli passenger whom he identified as a plumber.

Mr. Trump said a passenger, who had never flown an aircraft, entered the cockpit, pulled the co-pilot out of his seat and threw him backwards, where other passengers helped restrain him.

According to Mr. Trump, the passenger later said he had learned some basic concepts about flying from watching the television program Air Disasters.

“He said he watches it a lot, and he learned from watching that show sort of how to fly,” Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Trump said additional pilots and security personnel, who had been toward the rear of the aircraft, subsequently reached the cockpit and took control.

“I think it’s the most amazing story,” he said.

However, Mr. Trump said that he was merely recounting an account he had received rather than independently confirmed facts.

“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 and from a couple of probably early [sources],” he said.