Flydubai hero pilot Smit Machchar's earlier podcast on aviation safety back in focus

Flydubai captain Smit Machchar, who saved the lives of 174 passengers yesterday after his co-pilot allegedly stabbed him mid-flight to crash the plane, has been hailed a hero ever since. The Indian origin pilot, who has been on the job for more than 17 years and has more than 10 thousand hours of flying, is also a mentor at the Aviation Academy named FlyBy. A couple of months ago, Captain Smit gave an interview online, in which he explains how detailed safety checks on airlines are.

In a conversation on the podcast CS Zalak Mehta, Smit said, "Checks are done after every single flight, even if it's a 10-minute flight. There are internal, external and visual checks. The pilots have their own checks; engineers have their own workaround. We go around the aircraft, looking at the most critical parts," he said. Smit also mentioned 'Airworthiness certificate,' an official document that grants authorisation to individual aircraft. "The certificate clearly has a date of expiry. It's an airline's responsibility to get the aircraft checked," says Smit during the chat.

'When it comes from the cockpit, it's different'
Captain Smit heroically communicated with the Air Traffic Control (ATC) about the hijacking attempt, despite being stabbed. He also managed to open the door of the cockpit, which helped other passengers to come in and help him, alongside controlling the plane's safety levels. In the podcast, the pilot says he always likes to communicate with the passengers about everything during the flight. "I do it, if at all it's just a half-hour delay. The crew is equally qualified to make the announcement. But when it comes from the cockpit, it makes a difference," he says in the chat. During the time of the interview, Smit also reveals he has had no emergency landings in the past.

As per the latest news, the captain is recovering at a hospital in Saudi Arabia's Tabuk. He will also be undergoing surgeries for his stab injuries. His co-pilot, whose name has not been publicly released yet, was arrested by Saudi authorities after landing and is currently in custody, as the investigation goes on into his motive.
'Flydubai' has more than 20K search volume on Google Trends in the past 15 hours.