Very brave": Pilots Federation's Capt Randhawa hails Capt Machchhar, calls for investigation into cockpit incident

Flydubai’s cockpit incident involving Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar shows “total failure” of Cockpit Resource Management (CRM), Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) president Captain C.S. Randhawa said on Thursday. He urged an investigation into how a physical altercation between the two pilots escalated onboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073, which was diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia after Machchhar was seriously injured. Randhawa said Machchhar, a former SpiceJet check pilot, acted bravely, but in the FIP’s view a third pilot landed the plane. He added that emergency codes shifted from 7700 to 7500 as the aircraft lost 17,000 feet rapidly.