Captain Smit Machchhar, the Indian pilot of a Flydubai passenger flight, has described how he struggled to regain control of the cockpit after being attacked by his co-pilot, determined not to let the passengers die.
Machchhar said he was lying injured on the cockpit floor when he realised the aircraft was plunging and decided to make one final effort. “I was lying on the floor injured but I told myself to go for one last push to open the door from inside,” he recounted during a video call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Others came in and also played a role in controlling the situation. I was of course fighting for my own life, but at the same time I knew I was not going to let others die.”
Flydubai flight FZ1073, en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv early on Wednesday, dropped more than 17,000 feet (about 5,200 metres) roughly two and a half hours into the journey. The aircraft first transmitted an emergency signal before switching to the international hijacking code 7500.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later stated that one pilot had stabbed the other and appeared to be trying to crash the plane. Passengers overpowered the attacker. Two reserve pilots who were travelling as passengers then took control and safely landed the aircraft at Tabuk Airport in north-western Saudi Arabia at 06:58 local time.
Netanyahu described Machchhar as a “true hero.” The pilot was first treated in hospital in Tabuk before being airlifted to Abu Dhabi, where he was reported to be in stable condition. Netanyahu told Fox News the attacker was an Omani national and that investigations pointed to “Islamist radical indoctrination.” After being restrained, the man repeatedly urged the crew to “kill me.”
The United Arab Emirates has opened an investigation, including into whether the incident had any terrorist links. Machchhar, a pilot with 17 years’ experience, has been widely praised in India. Modi told him his “courage, patience and quick decision-making saved the lives of so many people.”The Indian Embassy in the UAE confirmed Machchhar is recovering well.
Despite his injuries, the pilot said he remains optimistic: “I am not looking at this wound like a wound because that would make my recovery even more difficult. I am looking at it as a journey which is slowly going on and will take time, but I am confident that the recovery will be there and I will become fit and healthy again.”
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