Follow-Up: UAE President Confers First Class Order of Zayed II on Flydubai Captain and Crew; Relief Pilots Who Landed the Jet Identified as Fijian and South African
DUBAI — UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has conferred the First Class Order of Zayed II on Captain Smit Machchhar and the crew of Flydubai flight FZ1073, in recognition of their courage during the cockpit attack of September 30. The honours were presented on October 27 by Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed.
The ceremony also confirmed the identities and nationalities of the two relief pilots who took control and landed the aircraft safely at Tabuk in Saudi Arabia: Henson Steven of Fiji and Rowan Tooth of South Africa. Both were travelling as additional crew, scheduled to operate the return flight, when they took over the Boeing 737 after the attack. Machchhar attended with his head scars still visible and his arm in a sling, telling the president he expected to recover in about two months. Israel's President Herzog has said Machchhar will receive the Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism once he is well enough.
On September 30, on a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, Omani co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami allegedly attacked Indian captain Machchhar with the cockpit emergency axe and tried to seize control of the aircraft, which plunged before the seriously injured captain managed to open the cockpit door and passengers and crew subdued the attacker; all 174 passengers landed safely. The UAE attorney general's earlier investigation concluded that the co-pilot was alleged to have planned to crash the aircraft into Tel Aviv airport's terminal.
(Source: Office of the President of the UAE)
Source: Office of the President of the UAE
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：一架 flydubai 波音737客机（资料图）。Md Shaifuzzaman Ayon 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: A Flydubai Boeing 737 (file photo). By Md Shaifuzzaman Ayon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
