US President Donald Trump has hailed Indian Flydubai captain Smit Machchhar as “a hero” after he was stabbed by his co-pilot during a mid-air attack on an Israel-bound flight.
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“In a way he was a hero,” Trump said of Machchhar, saying the badly wounded pilot still managed to open the cockpit door and call for help.
Trump, while speaking about the incident, also described the co-pilot as “perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job”, as the motive behind the attack remained under investigation.
The Dubai-to-Tel Aviv Flydubai flight plunged thousands of feet during the confrontation in the cockpit, triggering panic among passengers. The aircraft was eventually diverted and landed safely in Saudi Arabia.
