Captain Smit Machchhar, the FlyDubai pilot injured in a mid-air attack by his co-pilot, told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he recited the Hanuman Chalisa for strength as he fought to reach the cockpit door and save the passengers on board. Speaking from his hospital bed in Abu Dhabi, an emotional Machchhar said, “Whenever I am in pain, I recite Hanuman Chalisa. At that time too, I only kept reciting the Hanuman Chalisa,” recalling the moment he pulled himself up despite his injuries as the aircraft entered a steep descent.
What Happened
Machchhar was flying FlyDubai’s Dubai to Tel Aviv route when his co-pilot allegedly attacked him mid-flight, leaving him seriously injured. Despite the injuries, he managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to step in and restrain the attacker. The flight was diverted and landed safely with all 174 people on board accounted for. In his call with Modi, Machchhar said he recited the hymn to find the strength, a detail that has drawn attention alongside the story of his courage.
About The Hanuman Chalisa
The Hanuman Chalisa is a devotional hymn of forty verses, composed in the 16th century by the poet-saint Tulsidas in Awadhi, an old form of Hindi. It is dedicated to Hanuman, the Hindu deity known for his strength, loyalty and devotion to Lord Rama, and its verses draw on stories from the Ramayana that describe his courage and his feats of physical and mental power.
It’s recited everywhere, in homes, temples, and public gatherings, often as part of a daily routine, and often reached for in moments that demand something extra. The hymn opens with a prayer for wisdom and the easing of sorrow, moves through verses that describe Hanuman’s strength and his acts of courage, and ends with the belief that reciting it with real devotion brings protection and strength of its own.
Why It Is Recited For Strength
Devotees reach for the Hanuman Chalisa in hard moments because Hanuman himself stands for resilience, someone who faced impossible odds and got through on faith and inner strength, not sheer force. Reciting the hymn is widely believed to calm the mind, reduce fear and instill confidence, which is part of why it is so often invoked in moments of crisis, illness or danger.
For many, the act of recitation itself works as a kind of anchor. Repeating familiar verses gives a racing, frightened mind something steady to hold onto, a rhythm to fall back on when there isn’t time or space to think clearly. In Machchhar’s case, that appears to have played out quite literally, a chant reached for amid chaos, used as a source of steadiness when the aircraft itself was, quite literally, in free fall.
The Hanuman Chalisa’s place in Indian life extends well beyond religious observance. It is as commonly heard playing in cars and homes as it is recited in temples, which is part of why a moment like this, a pilot recalling it from a hospital bed after surviving a mid-air attack, resonates so widely, cutting across how religious or devotional a person might otherwise consider themselves to be.