Flight from Flydubai: Pilot comments from the hospital

dpa/ap | The pilot who was injured in the violence in a Flydubai plane gave a moving account of the near-catastrophe. Accordingly, despite being seriously stabbed by the co-pilot, he managed to open the cockpit door. “I was fighting for my own life at that moment, but I also realized that I couldn’t let so many other people die,” said Smit Machchhar in a video call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which he shared on the X platform.

While he was already on the ground, he realized that the plane was about to crash. He therefore stood up despite several wounds and the ongoing attack. “I opened the door and everyone came in,” said the Indian pilot.

Meanwhile, the Boeing 737 rapidly lost altitude, witnesses and Israeli authorities said. The plane with 182 people on board was en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv and was diverted to land in Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia.

According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the attacker has Omani citizenship. He was taken into custody and interrogated in Saudi Arabia. His motive for the attack was unclear.

Machchhar explained that thanks to his experience as a pilot, he could still feel the plane's steep descent. “I can feel exactly what is happening to the plane, even with my eyes closed,” he said. “As I lay on the ground, I could feel the plane falling into the depths.”

In the difficult moments, he recited the Hanuman Chalisa, a Hindu song of praise to God Hanuman, which is traditionally said as a prayer for strength and courage. “God Hanuman gave me courage,” he told Modi.

Machchhar, who is married with two children, has been with Flydubai for about four years, according to his LinkedIn profile. Previously, he worked for SpiceJet, an Indian low-cost airline, for eleven years. There he was deployed as a senior commander and line training captain. He completed more than 9,750 flight hours with SpiceJet.

The head of the New Zealand flying school Mainland Air, where Machchhar was trained, Philip Kean, said pilots learned how to take control if another crew member became incapacitated. However, the training does not normally prepare them for a knife attack by a colleague.

“I don’t think there’s much in the manual in the event of a knife attack,” Kean said. “You are friends and fly together.” Nobody expects such a scenario.

The Emirati company's flight was traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday when the incident occurred. Several passengers forced their way into the cockpit and were able to overpower the attacker. The plane, which had previously dramatically lost altitude, was safely landed in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, by a second crew who happened to be traveling with it. Both the captain and the passengers who intervened were hailed as heroes by the media. The airline captain is now being treated in the United Arab Emirates.

The arrested co-pilot was also brought to the Emirates. There was initially no reliable information about the motive for the attack. According to Israeli government officials, it was an attempted Islamist attack. But many questions remain unanswered.