Machchhar, 39, has turned an overnight sensation after fighting with his co-pilot, reportedly an Omani national, who Israeli media claimed, wanted to crash the flight after hijacking it. 

The Flydubai flight FZ1073, travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, abruptly descended from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet within a minute, before making an erratic circle close to the Jordanian border and eventually landing in Tabuk (Saudi Arabia) about an hour later, according to FlightRadar24. 

In an October 17, 2025 podcast with YouTuber Zalak Mehta, Machchhar, who has now been flying for over 18 years now, said that unlike a lot of other aviators, aviation was not like a childhood dream. “It it came along much later in my life,” he said. 

Machchhar said that after schooling, he joined a textile engineering course which was his family business. “And I did that, finished the entire course and still was young so I wanted to do a little more studies and to to help grow the family business. The only obvious course to follow it up was a management course. And that's where I came across an aviation seminar,” he recalled. 

“That was when I really found the the details about aviation and it was quite interesting for me. Something really appealed and this is something which I felt that I was attracted towards”.

'Mom Was Scared'

Machchhar said that his mother was scared about his choice of profession while recalling his father as a more calm person, 

“Mom was scared, because, of course, the aviation sector now and aviation like fifteen to seventeen years ago was completely different. You didn't hear a lot of people are becoming pilots. Becoming pilots was no one had any idea how to do it. So first of all that was one of the things that, you know, scared my mom and of course the flying bit”.

"Dad was a more calmer person, he took it well. I said I will do it, so he said just figure it out how and where you can do it and that's how it all started, but it was smooth at home,” added Machchhar.

Stepping Into The Cockpit For The First Time

Talking about the moment he stepped into the cockpit for the first time, Machchhar said no pilot can forget the experience.

“I did my flying from New Zealand. That was one big change because I had never left the country before that. In fact, I didn't even fly for that many times before I actually went to become a pilot. I probably must have had like couple of flights before that,” he said. 

The First Commercial Flight?

In his podcast with Zalak Mehta, Machchhar vividly recalled that his first commercial flight was during his training when he flew a flight from Bengaluru to Delhi.

“That was scary. Not because of the flying part but the responsibility. It was like you have made it through to an airline, but you're still under training. So, you're still under probation. Now that you have that opportunity, you don't want to let it go. 

How Do You Cope With An Emergency?

Over a question about dealing with an emergency mid-air, Machchhar said that it while he was still a first officer (co-pilot) with a young captain when he had to face “almost uncontrollable” passengers over flight delay with the air hostesses having to listen to angry outbursts from the agitated fliers. 

“Four girls back there and you know for them to overpower those four four women is so easy, not physically, but taunt them and just keep poking them,” he recalled.

Speaking about his captain at the time, Machchhar said, “He said we had two options. Either keep the cockpit door shut and keep sipping our coffee and then when we have something to tell them, we tell them. So me being a nice first officer, I said, "Okay, captain." He said that in the second case, we could open the cockpit door, go to the center of the cabin and start speaking to people." 

Machchhar said that the captain speaking to the people helped diffuse the situation and prevent things get out of control. 

About Recent Plane Crashes

Machchhar while talking candidly about the plane crashes in recent years said that there were times when even he was unsure if he wanted his parents traveling on the max. 

“But that was before we found out what exactly is going on with the aircraft. So I was flying the Max. I think it was 18 or 19 was when I got rated. So every time there's a new change or a new aircraft you have to get yourself rated on the aircraft”. 

Machchhar said that after the Ahmedabad Air India plane crash, the DGCA and the airline were extremely quick to ground the aircraft.