The Indian captain attacked by his co-pilot aboard a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv described the terrifying incident to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a video call on Friday. He recounted how he fought to open the cockpit door and summon help as the aircraft plunged.
Speaking from a hospital bed in Abu Dhabi, Smit Machchhar appeared with a tube in his nose and bandages covering his head and hands. In the nearly 10-minute video shared on Modi’s social media accounts, he became emotional and wiped away tears while describing the ordeal.
“I knew the aircraft was going down … I had fallen to the ground,” Machchhar said. “I told myself, the door is right there, just open it. I managed to do it, and people came in.”
Machchhar was stabbed by his co-pilot on Wednesday in what authorities described as an alleged attempt to crash the flydubai aircraft.
The plane was carrying 174 people when it lost nearly 14,000 feet of altitude in under 30 seconds during the incident.
“I have been flying for 17 years and have been a captain for 11 years. I knew the aircraft was going down,” Machchhar told Modi.
Modi commended the captain’s courage and quick thinking, saying his actions had protected lives and upheld the reputation of Indian pilots.
“I know God saved me,” said Machchhar, visibly moved. The pilot, who comes from Modi’s home state of Gujarat, also said he recited a Hindu prayer to Hanuman, the monkey god, as the crisis unfolded.
A spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Reuters on Thursday that Machchhar was bleeding and lying on the cockpit floor when he succeeded in opening the door.
Passengers and crew were then able to overpower the co-pilot. A second pair of flydubai pilots who were traveling on board took control of the aircraft and landed it safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
