Before Captain Smit Machchhar, only 2 Indians received same UAE honour

UAE conferred the First Class Order of Zayed II on Indian Captain Smit Machchhar for saving 174 passengers aboard a FlyDubai flight after being attacked by his Omani co-pilot. Navdeep Singh Suri, who served as India's ambassador to the UAE from 2016 to 2019, and Sunjay Sudhir, who served from 2021 to 2025, received the same honour earlier.