The honor has been reported by the Times of India, Hindustan Times, India Today, The Hindu and The New Indian Express. However, the available material does not include a direct statement from the Israeli government.
The name of the honor also varies among the sources: it is described as an award for civil courage, an award for civilian heroism and, in the Times of India report, a Presidential Award. The exact official name has not been established.
According to the Times of India and The Hindu, the honor is linked to an incident that occurred aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073, also identified by the Indian newspaper as flight 1073 on the Dubai–Tel Aviv route.
Hindustan Times reports that Machchhar was allegedly stabbed by the co-pilot during an alleged attempt to crash the aircraft. The co-pilot’s role and the full circumstances of the incident are not further specified in the available material.
The Hindu places the incident on September 30 and reports that the pilot allegedly helped save 172 passengers and other crew members. These are details reported by a single outlet.
According to the Times of India, six Israeli passengers allegedly helped Machchhar during the incident. The same outlet describes the co-pilot as radicalized and the episode as a foiled hijacking attempt—characterizations that have not been independently confirmed by the information provided.
The sources therefore agree on the core of the story: the Indian Flydubai pilot is identified as the recipient of an Israeli honor linked to the cockpit incident. The official name of the honor and the verified details of the incident remain to be clarified.