Nearly $80,000 raised for wounded flydubai pilot
A GoFundMe campaign organized by Jewish Breaking News raised more than $73,000 toward a $130,000 goal for flydubai Capt. Smit Machchhar.
By Thursday, online fundraisers for Capt. Smit Machchhar, the Indian pilot who was stabbed on a flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv, had collected over $79,000 in combined support. Two separate campaigns were launched to assist the wounded captain. The first, run by Jewish Breaking News, surpassed the $73,000 mark of its $130,000 goal.
The second campaign, led by Tal Dooreck, raised more than $6,000. Both campaigns expressed gratitude for the support and appealed to Jewish and Israeli communities worldwide. The funds were intended to aid Machchhar and his family, though transfer arrangements were still being arranged. The crowdfunding efforts arrived alongside tributes from Indian celebrities and athletes, including Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, and Suresh Raina.
Capt. Machchhar unlocked the cockpit door before collapsing during the Wednesday flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. Passenger Yaniv Hayoun claimed he witnessed the captain unlocking the door before he fell. The aircraft made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where the pilot received medical treatment from Israeli dentist Shota Musayev.
Written by urgent.news from Jerusalem Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
