Captain Smit Machchhar, who made headlines recently with his courageous feat on a flight where he averted a possible plane crash and saved 174 lives, has been receiving praise from eminent public personalities across the country. On Saturday, Shah Rukh Khan took to his X page to laud the pilot for his courageous efforts to ensure safety of passengers.
In a brief post, the Jawan actor penned, “Captain Smit Machchhar, you stood strong when it mattered the most!! It’s not easy to stare adversity in the face and put one’s safety on the line… but you did just that to protect those onboard and showed us what being a Captain entails. A true display of courage and duty. Wishing you a speedy recovery, the country is proud of you.”
Shah Rukh Khan is not the first celebrity to praise the pilot for his bravery. In the past two days, many prominent actors like Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt, R Madhavan, Ananya Panday, Rashmika Mandanna, and Kangana Ranaut came out in support of the pilot and publicly praised him on social media.
On 30 September, Captain Smit Machchhar was involved in an incident with his co-pilot on flight FZ1073, travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv when his co-pilot allegedly stabbed him and tried to take control of the aircraft. However, despite being seriously injured, Smit managed to manage the cockpit door, making it possible for passengers and other crew members to enter the cockpit and help regain aircraft control.
Captain Smit and other pilot were taken to a hospital after the flight diverted to land in Tabuk, and Smit was later reported to be in stable condition.
Meanwhile, the motive behind the attack, by the co-pilot who was reported to be an Omani national, remains under investigation.
