The Gujarat government will honour Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar with the ‘Visisht Gujarat Garima Award’ for his extraordinary bravery during a Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight, where he helped save the lives of 174 passengers despite being seriously injured.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel announced the honour, praising Machchhar for displaying “indomitable bravery” during the attack on Flydubai flight FZ1073.“The courage of Captain Smit Machchhar, the pilot of the flight headed to Israel, is being saluted by the entire world today. Despite being drenched in blood due to the attack, he displayed indomitable bravery to save the lives of 174 passengers,” Patel said in a post on X in Gujarati.
Calling Machchhar a “valiant son of Gujarat”, the Chief Minister said his bravery had brought pride to both Gujarat and the country. He also said people across the state were praying for the pilot’s speedy recovery.The Chief Minister said the award would recognise Machchhar’s “extraordinary act of bravery and humanity”.
A special prayer was also held at the Somnath Temple for Machchhar’s speedy recovery. People also gathered outside his residence carrying the Tricolour, praising his courage and demanding that he be given a national honour.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also praised Machchhar’s bravery, saying the pilot had shown extraordinary courage and acted to prevent what he described as another 9/11-like attack.