Netanyahu invites flydubai pilot to Israel ceremony
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has invited flydubai captain Smit Machchhar to attend Israel’s Independence Day ceremony after speaking with him about an incident aboard a Tel Aviv-bound flight. Netanyahu praised the Indian pilot as a hero, according to the brief account supplied by NDTV.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has invited flydubai captain Smit Machchhar to attend Israel’s Independence Day ceremony, according to NDTV. Netanyahu spoke to Machchhar on Saturday after an incident aboard a flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv. The available material does not provide further details about the flight or the circumstances of the conversation.
The Israeli prime minister praised the Indian pilot’s conduct during the incident. He described Machchhar as a hero to the world, as well as to Israel and India. Netanyahu’s invitation would give Machchhar a role at the national ceremony.
The supplied report does not state whether the captain accepted the invitation or provide a date for his proposed participation. Other supplied material says Machchhar recounted a confrontation inside the cockpit in which the co-pilot stood up to pray before Machchhar was struck. Machchhar said he eventually opened the cockpit door and saw people waiting outside.
The UAE’s attorney general has separately said that preliminary findings indicated the co-pilot attempted to carry out a terrorist act and attacked the captain with an emergency axe. That account was reported by the official UAE news agency. The material available for this report does not include a response from the co-pilot, details of any charges or a fuller account of the investigation.
Netanyahu’s comments and invitation were made after he spoke directly with Machchhar.
This independently written report is based on information supplied by the named publisher. Vertrix News has not independently verified the source report.