Saved reputation of Indian pilots: PM's pointed message in call with hero captain

PM Modi's remarks come against the backdrop of social media chatter, mostly propagated by Pakistani handles, over how the flydubai Indian pilot might have been blamed had the incident ended in a major disaster.A person paints a portrait honouring Indian pilot Smit Machchhar (AP)New Delhi,Oct 2, 2026 12:45 ISTPrime Minister Narendra Modi, while speaking to Smit Machchhar, the hero Indian pilot who averted a potential terror incident on board an Israel-bound flydubai flight, made a pointed remark about how the episode could have affected the perception of Indian pilots had events unfolded differently."Had this not happened, who knows what India would have had to face, what all Indian pilots would have had to endure, and how Indian pilots would have been viewed. You have saved everyone. You have done a very big thing," PM Modi told Machchhar, who is undergoing treatment in the UAE.The remarks come against the backdrop of social media chatter, mostly propagated by Pakistani handles, over how the Indian pilot might have been blamed had the incident ended differently.PM Modi did not explicitly refer to those posts, but his comments about how Indian pilots would have been viewed echoed the conversation that's been raging on social media since the horrific incident. "The country can proudly say that Indians are not those who take lives, but those who are willing to risk their lives to save others," the Prime Minister further said.Machchhar, being hailed as a hero worldwide, was brutally stabbed by the Omani co-pilot as he tried to take control of the aircraft and crash it. However, the brave Indian captain fought off the co-pilot and, in a crucial move, opened the cockpit door that allowed passengers to rush in and restrain the attacker. Machchhar's quick thinking prevented an apparent hijack of a Tel Aviv-bound flydubai flight that had more than 170 people on board.Following the incident, several posts on X suggested that had the aircraft gone down, questions and blame could have been directed at the Indian pilot.- Ends