Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has invited the Indian captain of a Flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv to visit Israel as his guest of honour after he reportedly prevented an alleged attack in the cockpit.
Netanyahu extended the invitation to Captain Smit Machchhar during a telephone conversation, describing him as a hero of India, Israel and the wider world.
“You are a true hero of the brave peoples of India and Israel, and you are a hero of the entire world,” Netanyahu said in a video of the conversation released by his office on Saturday.
The invitation followed preliminary findings from an investigation by United Arab Emirates authorities into the incident involving the Israel-bound flight.
UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said the findings indicated that the flight’s co-pilot had allegedly attempted to carry out what he described as a “terrorist act”.
According to the UAE state news agency, WAM, Al Shamsi said the co-pilot allegedly used an emergency axe to attack the captain in the cockpit before attempting to take control of the aircraft.
“The co-pilot had attempted to carry out a terrorist act” and had “attacked the captain in the cockpit with the emergency axe and tried to take control of the aircraft,” WAM quoted the Attorney General as saying.
The Israel-bound flight was diverted on Wednesday following the cockpit incident.
A passenger on board had earlier alleged that one of the pilots attacked the other and attempted to crash the aircraft, reportedly putting the lives of everyone on board at risk.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing.