A heroic pilot who was stabbed by his co-pilot during a FlyDubai flight has said he could not stand by and let others die after managing to save 174 passengers from disaster on Wednesday.
Smit Machchhar, pictured with a tube in his nose and bandages covering his head and hands, spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi from his hospital bed in Abu Dhabi. The nearly 10-minute conversation was shared on the prime minister’s social media channels.
Machchhar explained how he forced open the cockpit door while under attack, allowing passengers to reach the attacker.
“I fell to the floor and felt that the plane was sinking. I knew that if I could give one last push and open the door, I could save everyone,” he said.
“At that moment, I was fighting for my life. I realised that if I did not act, everyone could die. I was already wounded and had many injuries, but I knew I had to do something.”
“I said to myself, ‘If I don’t get up…’ As I lay on the floor, I could feel the plane sinking. The door was right there. Even though I had been beaten, I managed to open it.”
“Everyone played an equal part in this. What I did was to save my own life, but at the same time I knew I could not let everyone else die.”
Modi praised Machchhar’s courage and quick thinking, saying the pilot’s actions had saved lives and upheld the reputation of Indian aviators.
Smit Machchhar, pictured with a tube in his nose and bandages on his head and hands, spoke to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi from a hospital bed
Graphic footage filmed by passengers shows the wounded pilot Smit Machchhar lying on the floor while others care for him
Machchhar, who comes from Mumbai, India’s financial capital, suffered serious injuries in Wednesday’s attack. Despite being wounded, he opened the cockpit door, enabling passengers to enter and restrain the attacker as the Boeing 737 began a steep descent.
His actions have earned him widespread praise, with world leaders saying he helped avert a potentially catastrophic disaster.
The FlyDubai flight was carrying 182 people from Dubai to Tel Aviv when it was diverted to Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia, where it made an emergency landing.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacker, an Omani national, had been arrested in Saudi Arabia and was being interrogated there. His motive remained unclear.
Machchhar told Modi that he recited the Hanuman Chalisa during the ordeal. The Hindu devotional hymn, dedicated to Lord Hanuman, is traditionally recited as a prayer for strength and courage.
“Lord Hanuman gave me courage,” he said before becoming emotional. “I feel so proud of myself. I’m sorry for crying in front of you.”
Modi replied: “If you don’t get emotional in front of me, in front of whom will you?”
Machchhar is married and has two children. According to his LinkedIn profile, he has worked for FlyDubai for around four years.
Before joining the airline, he spent 11 years at SpiceJet, the Indian low-cost carrier, where he worked as a senior commander and line training captain. He recorded more than 9,750 flying hours with SpiceJet.
“I am not looking at this wound as a wound, because that would make my recovery even more difficult,” Machchhar said.
‘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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The Omani co-pilot who stabbed Machchhar had undergone radical Islamist indoctrination and was clearly suicidal, Israel’s prime minister said Thursday.
‘We know that he underwent Islamist radical indoctrination. That appears to be something we are gathering from his personal information,’ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News.
Musaev recounted how he rushed to the aid of the dying Machchhar – as the attacker pleaded with him to end his life
Two Israeli security officials said their initial assessment is that the co-pilot, identified by as an Omani national, was likely acting alone, though the investigation was still ongoing.
The flight plunged more than 14,000ft in less than 30 seconds during the incident as it flew over Saudi Arabia on the journey from the United Arab Emirates to Israel, according to the flight-tracking website Flightradar24.
Netanyahu said it was clear that the co-pilot who carried out the stabbing was suicidal.
‘It looks very likely that he was going to down the plane,’ Netanyahu said. Coupled with ‘the Islamist tendencies, that radicalisation that are found in his background, I think that’s… a pretty good clue,’ he said, without elaborating.
‘But again, I don’t make final conclusions yet. But that’s the indications we have now,’ he added.
The United Arab Emirates has started investigations seeking to establish the circumstances and motives and determine ‘whether the incident was linked to any terrorist activity or purpose, or involved prior planning or direction’, the UAE state news agency reported on Thursday.
New footage has since emerged of the bloodied knifeman sat on the floor of the plane as his head is bowed and hands are tied – while Machchhar is stretchered out.
One of the heroic passengers on board was Georgian Jewish dentist, Dr Musaev.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail after returning to Israel, the 47-year-old recounted how he rushed to the aid of the dying Machchhar – as the attacker pleaded with him to end his life.
‘Everything was going smoothly when, suddenly, we felt the aircraft drop sharply.
‘We thought it was just turbulence. I took out my camera and started filming. Exactly half a minute later, we heard noises from the front: shouting, and a woman screaming, “Knife! Knife!”,’ Musaev said.
‘That was when I got up. I realised it was a terrorist attack and joined the people ahead of us, who were the first to rush into the cockpit and pull the terrorist out.’
The group of four men, he recounted, then ‘grabbed the attacker by the neck’ as they dragged him out of the cockpit.
‘We tied the terrorist up, binding his hands and feet,’ he added. ‘[The attacker said] nothing apart from begging us: “Kill me”.’
In the same moment, Musaev was pleaded with by the dying captain as he helped administer first aid, who said: ‘Save me. I don’t want to die here.’
‘The pilot was losing a lot of blood,’ he said. ‘His arm was badly slashed, as was his neck, and he had a very deep wound at the back of his head.
‘Everything in the cockpit was covered in blood, but he was conscious. We were effectively left without first-aid supplies. Somehow, we managed to stop the bleeding with pieces of cloth.’
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