Indian aviation history includes pilots, cabin crew members and military aviators who found themselves facing extraordinary danger, and made decisions that helped protect others.
The latest name to enter that conversation is Captain Smit Machchhar, the Indian pilot of Flydubai Flight FZ1073 who was seriously injured during a cockpit attack on September 30.
The Boeing 737 was flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv with 174 passengers when the co-pilot allegedly attacked Machchhar. The aircraft subsequently plunged thousands of feet before the injured captain managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to intervene. Reserve pilots eventually helped stabilise the aircraft, which landed safely at Tabuk in Saudi Arabia.
Machchhar has since received praise from Indian and Israeli leaders and has been widely hailed for his actions during the crisis.
His story also recalls earlier moments in Indian aviation history when individuals were confronted with hijackings, wartime danger, and life-threatening emergencies.
Here are some of the most prominent examples.
Captain Smit Machchhar: The Flydubai Cockpit Attack, 2026
Machchhar was commanding Flydubai Flight FZ1073 on September 30 when the aircraft’s co-pilot allegedly attacked him inside the cockpit.
The Boeing 737 was cruising at roughly 34,000 feet over Saudi Arabia when it began a dramatic descent. Reuters reported that the aircraft lost more than 16,000 feet in just over 30 seconds before the situation was brought under control.
Machchhar was seriously wounded during the confrontation. Despite his injuries, he managed to open the cockpit door, creating an opportunity for passengers, crew and reserve pilots to intervene.
The attacker was subdued and the aircraft was eventually diverted to Tabuk, where it landed safely.
In a subsequent video call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi from his hospital bed, Machchhar described his actions as an effort to save both himself and the people aboard the aircraft. Reuters reported that he had 17 years of experience as a pilot.
The episode was not the work of one person alone. Passengers, crew members and reserve pilots also played roles in bringing the emergency under control. That collective response is an important part of the story.
Neerja Bhanot: The Flight Attendant Who Protected Passengers, 1986
Four decades before the Flydubai incident, Neerja Bhanot became one of India’s most widely remembered aviation heroes.
Bhanot was the senior flight purser aboard Pan Am Flight 73 when armed members of the Abu Nidal Organization hijacked the aircraft at Karachi’s airport on September 5, 1986.
The aircraft was carrying passengers from Mumbai toward Frankfurt and New York when the hijacking began.
Bhanot alerted the cockpit crew, allowing the pilots to escape before the hijackers could take control of the aircraft. According to the Pan Am Historical Foundation, she also concealed passengers’ passports to make it harder for the hijackers to identify American passengers.
The standoff lasted about 17 hours.
When the hijackers eventually opened fire, Bhanot helped passengers escape through an emergency exit. She was shot and killed while shielding three children from gunfire.
In 1987, Bhanot became the first woman and youngest recipient of the Ashoka Chakra, India’s highest peacetime gallantry award at the time.
Her story remains distinctive because she was not operating the aircraft. Her role was to protect the people inside it—and she continued doing so after the cockpit crew had escaped.
Captain Devi Sharan: The IC-814 Hijacking, 1999
Captain Devi Sharan was at the controls of Indian Airlines Flight IC-814 when the Airbus A300 was hijacked on December 24, 1999.
The aircraft was flying from Kathmandu to New Delhi when five armed hijackers took control of the situation.
The hijacking lasted seven days and took the aircraft through several airports before it ended in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Sharan and his crew were forced to operate under extraordinarily difficult circumstances while the hijackers issued demands and the aircraft’s fuel became a critical consideration.
The aircraft eventually landed in Kandahar, where negotiations continued.
The incident ended with the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for three militants held in Indian custody. One passenger, Rupin Katyal, was killed during the hijacking, while others were injured.
The IC-814 episode remains one of India’s most consequential aviation-security incidents, and Sharan’s account of the ordeal has subsequently been documented in books and interviews.
Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma: From Combat Pilot to India’s First Citizen in Space
Rakesh Sharma’s story is different from the hijacking and hostage crises involving Bhanot, Sharan and Machchhar.
Before becoming India’s first citizen to travel into space, Sharma was an Indian Air Force fighter pilot.
During the 1971 India-Pakistan war, he flew combat missions in the MiG-21.
In 1984, Sharma became the first Indian citizen to travel into space when he joined the Soviet Union’s Soyuz T-11 mission. He spent nearly eight days aboard the Salyut 7 space station.
His famous response when asked by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi how India looked from space—“Saare Jahan Se Achha”—became one of the defining moments of India’s early space history.
Unlike the commercial aviation incidents on this list, Sharma’s contribution came through military aviation and spaceflight rather than saving passengers during an in-flight emergency.
That distinction matters, but his career remains an important part of India’s aviation legacy.
Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh: Leading India’s Air War in 1965
Arjan Singh represents another side of India’s aviation history: military leadership during wartime.
Singh served as Chief of the Air Staff during the 1965 India-Pakistan war and led the Indian Air Force during a period of intense aerial combat.
He was subsequently promoted to the five-star rank of Marshal of the Indian Air Force, becoming the first and only Indian Air Force officer to hold that rank.
Singh’s legacy is therefore less about a single emergency decision and more about command, operational leadership and the development of India’s air-power capabilities.
His inclusion alongside commercial pilots and cabin crew also illustrates how broad the idea of an “aviation hero” can be.
Biju Patnaik: The Pilot Who Took Risks on and off the Battlefield
Before becoming a major political figure in India, Biju Patnaik was an aviator whose career included wartime and high-risk missions.
During World War II, he served with the Royal Indian Air Force and flew transport and reconnaissance missions.
His aviation career later intersected with India’s post-independence history.
In 1947, Patnaik flew into Srinagar at a critical moment during the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, helping transport Indian troops to the region.
He also became known internationally for his role in Indonesia’s struggle for independence. In 1947, he and his wife, Asha Patnaik, flew to Indonesia and helped bring Indonesian nationalist leaders Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta to safety.
The Indonesian government later recognized Patnaik’s contribution with its highest civilian honors.
His career shows that Indian aviation history was shaped not only by commercial flight but also by wartime transport, diplomacy and political upheaval.
What connects these aviation stories?
The circumstances surrounding these individuals were very different.
Bhanot was a flight attendant confronted by armed hijackers. Sharan was a commercial pilot forced to operate an aircraft during a prolonged hijacking. Sharma and Singh served as military aviators. Patnaik used aviation in wartime and diplomatic missions.
Machchhar’s case is different again: he faced an attack from someone already inside the cockpit while the aircraft was in flight.
Yet several common elements run through these stories:
- Decision-making under extreme pressure: Each situation required people to act while the consequences of delay could be severe.
- Responsibility for others: Commercial pilots and cabin crew have a direct duty of care toward passengers, while military aviators operate under a different set of responsibilities.
- Training and discipline: Aviation emergencies can leave little time for deliberation, making preparation and established procedures critical.
- Collective action: Even the most celebrated individual acts occurred within larger teams involving crew members, passengers, military personnel or ground authorities.
- Human judgment: Technology and procedures can reduce risk, but people still have to make decisions when circumstances fall outside normal operations.
Smit Machchhar’s story is still unfolding
Machchhar’s actions aboard Flight FZ1073 have already placed him alongside some of India’s best-known aviation figures in public discussion.
But unlike historical cases whose facts have been established over decades, the Flydubai incident remains under investigation.
Authorities are still examining exactly how the cockpit confrontation unfolded, the motive of the co-pilot and the sequence of events that led to the aircraft’s dramatic descent. Reuters reported that the co-pilot remained in custody while the investigation continued.
What is established is that the aircraft carried 174 people, Machchhar was seriously injured, he managed to open the cockpit door, and others then intervened before the plane landed safely in Saudi Arabia.
That makes the incident remarkable without needing to embellish it.
From Neerja Bhanot protecting passengers during the Pan Am 73 hijacking to Devi Sharan navigating the unprecedented IC-814 crisis and now Machchhar fighting through severe injuries during an apparent cockpit attack, India’s aviation history contains repeated examples of people being forced to make extraordinary decisions in extraordinary circumstances.
The details of each story are different. The underlying lesson is that aviation emergencies are rarely solved by one person alone. They are often brought under control when training, courage, teamwork, and decisive action come together at precisely the moment they are needed.
