Mumbai, October 1, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) President Captain C.S. Randhawa has said that flydubai flight FZ1073, in which Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar was allegedly attacked by his co-pilot, could have crashed if a third pilot had not been present to help land the aircraft safely.
Speaking to IANS on Thursday, Randhawa said he had never witnessed such bloodshed in a cockpit during his 50-year aviation career. He stressed that investigators would need to examine crew and passenger statements, along with data from the aircraft’s recording systems, to establish exactly what happened.
Randhawa said the cockpit voice recorder would be crucial in determining when the incident began. The digital flight recorder, he added, would provide important flight parameters, including the aircraft’s altitude, when it began descending and the trajectory of its descent, helping investigators identify the sequence of events and the actions taken by the pilots.
He also referred to cockpit microphone recordings, which could help establish which pilot was speaking and when, while overhead microphone recordings may have captured conversations involving passengers inside the cockpit.
“These are extremely vital pieces of information to arrive at a clear judgment of what went wrong in the aircraft,” Randhawa said.
Addressing speculation that the incident could have been an act of terrorism, the FIP chief cautioned against drawing conclusions before the investigation is complete. He said that if investigators establish a terror link, they would need to examine the co-pilot’s possible connections with any organisation and determine the intent behind the alleged attack.
Randhawa said that if the incident involved a suicide attempt, Captain Machchhar’s actions in overpowering the attacker would be significant. He also praised the person who helped bring the aircraft to a safe landing, warning that a few more seconds could have resulted in a crash.
“If a third pilot was not present, the aircraft would have crashed,” he underlined.
According to Randhawa, the altercation may have escalated over time, potentially progressing from an argument to a physical confrontation and then the use of a weapon.
He explained that the cockpit fight could have posed a serious risk to the aircraft’s control. If one of the pilots had unstrapped himself and accidentally struck the control column with a leg, it could have disengaged the autopilot, potentially causing the aircraft to descend steeply.
Randhawa identified a possible failure of crew resource management (CRM) as one area investigators could examine. He said the inquiry would also need to determine whether the incident involved terrorism and, if so, establish any relevant organisational links.
Emphasising that no conclusions should be drawn until the inquiry is completed, Randhawa also called for stronger measures to assess pilot wellbeing and aviation safety.
He said psychometric assessments should be conducted regularly to identify whether pilots were experiencing stress or other concerns that could affect their work.
Describing the incident as a major eye-opener for the global aviation sector, Randhawa said psychometric testing of pilots should also be introduced in India.
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