When Captain Dharav Gosalia first heard what had happened to his old friend Smit Machchhar, he had one immediate reaction.
"
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he → hear → reaction
I had goosebumps."
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I → have → goosebumps
The two men have known each other since they were about 20, when they were neighbours in Ghatkopar, a Mumbai suburb, and began their flying training in New Zealand.
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they → know → Zealand
They later spent six years as colleagues at SpiceJet, flying Boeing 737s, before their careers took them in different directions.
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careers → spend → directions
Machchhar moved to Dubai and joined Flydubai in 2022.
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Machchhar → move → 2022
Gosalia went on to fly Boeing 777s for Air India.
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Gosalia → go → India
"We have been in touch with messages," Gosalia says.
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Gosalia → say → messages
"If there are some routes we have to fly, we discuss destinations and family on WhatsApp and phone.
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we → be → WhatsApp
Sometimes their paths crossed in the air, too.
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paths → cross → air
In 2024, Gosalia was flying to London through Dubai airspace when he recognised Machchhar's voice on the radio.
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he → fly → radio
Machchhar was flying to Mumbai.
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Machchhar → fly → Mumbai
"We greeted each other," he recalls.
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he → greet → other
On Wednesday, Machchhar was captain of a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv when another pilot attacked and stabbed him in the cockpit.
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pilot → attack → cockpit
The Boeing 737 Max was diverted to Tabuk in north-western Saudi Arabia, where Machchhar was taken to hospital.
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Machchhar → divert → hospital
He remains in a stable condition, according to the Indian embassy in Riyadh.
uncertain
He → remain → Riyadh
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called Machchhar a "true hero", saying he saved the lives of 174 people and prevented a "catastrophic mid-air disaster".
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he → call → disaster
For Gosalia, however, the man at the centre of the extraordinary incident is still "Smit Mac" – the nickname used by his friends and colleagues.
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man → use → friends
"He was a fun guy, gentleman – very brilliant person," he says.
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he → say → ?
They would meet during layovers in places such as Milan and Bangkok, and play tennis-ball cricket when they were back in Mumbai.
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they → meet → Mumbai
Machchhar also helped younger pilots, teaching new recruits and passing on what he had learnt.
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he → help → what
"He was a very disciplined flier," Gosalia says.
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Gosalia → say → ?
That discipline was reinforced by years of training, including from former Indian Air Force pilots who moved into commercial aviation.
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who → reinforce → aviation
"That training gives you more focus, more discipline, and more focus on motor skills," Gosalia says.
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Gosalia → give → skills
One part of that training, he says, is known among pilots as "chair flying": rehearsing an emergency procedure while sitting in a chair, mentally running through the sequence and moving your hands to where the relevant switches and controls would be in the cockpit.
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switches → say → cockpit
The idea is to make those movements instinctive when something goes wrong and there is little time to think.
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something → make → ?
Machchhar had plenty of experience to draw on.
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Machchhar → have → experience
He had more than 9,750 hours of flying experience, including more than 6,400 hours as pilot-in-command, according to his LinkedIn profile.
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He → have → profile
Gosalia says the exact sequence of Wednesday's confrontation will become clearer from the aircraft's flight data and cockpit recordings.
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sequence → say → data
But whatever happened inside the cockpit, he says, Machchhar had to make decisions under an extraordinary kind of pressure.
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Machchhar → happen → pressure
"What happened to him, what he did – he was the commander on the flight," Gosalia says.
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Gosalia → happen → flight
And that, Gosalia says, is where courage matters.
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courage → say → ?
"How much courage plays a role?
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courage → play → role
A lot," he says.
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he → say → lot
Then comes the thought that perhaps best explains why the incident has affected him so deeply.
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incident → come → him
"Smit has taught us courage.
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Smit → teach → courage
Now we will do the same thing if something like this happens."
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something → do → this
The Aporia
