UAE President awards Flydubai crew for cockpit incident

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has awarded Captain Smit Machchhar and fellow Flydubai crew members the First Class Order of Zayed II for their actions during a September 30 cockpit incident aboard flight FZ1073. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, presented the medals and commended the crew’s efforts to protect passengers, according to the Dubai Media Office. The award was conferred at a presidential reception, where the crew members thanked the president and expressed pride in receiving the honour, the office said. The flight was travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv when the incident occurred. It diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, and landed safely. The official announcement said the decoration recognised the crew’s courage and responsibility in ensuring passenger safety. Machchhar described the cockpit attack in an interview, saying the copilot struck him repeatedly and that he lost consciousness. He said the aircraft rapidly lost altitude during the incident. Those details come from his account; the material describing the award does not provide an independent investigation’s findings about the attack or its motive....