Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar, who helped save the lives of 174 passengers despite being severely attacked by the Omani co-pilot aboard a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv.
Netanyahu praised Machchhar for his courage and composure during the confrontation inside the cockpit, calling him a “true hero of the brave peoples of India and Israel” and “a hero of the entire world.”
“I want to invite you and my dear friend, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to light a celebratory flame on our next Independence Day. You are a true hero of the brave peoples of India and Israel, and you're a hero of the entire world. I wish you a very speedy and complete recovery,” Netanyahu said.
During the conversation, Machchhar recounted what happened inside the cockpit of Flydubai flight FZ1073.
“It was a normal flight, and he wanted to pray, which is not out of the ordinary. Out of respect, while he was praying, I was looking towards the front rather than at the back. Suddenly, there was a big blow to the back of my head,” Machchhar said.
“My first thought was that there was catastrophic damage to the aircraft and that something was not right. But then the blows kept coming, one after another. That’s when I realised it wasn’t the aircraft—it was the other person in the cockpit with me,” he said.
The confrontation caused the aircraft to descend by approximately 16,000 feet within two minutes. Machchhar eventually managed to open the cockpit door, allowing members of the crew waiting outside to overpower the attacker and regain control of the aircraft.
“I did try to open the door once, but I think he shut it back closed. At that point, I remember I was lying on the cockpit floor. I could feel the aircraft and hear the whooshing sound, along with people screaming,” Machchhar said.
“As I was telling the ambassador here, I had one last fight left in me. Call it personal or call it for the people, but I thought, if I don’t do it, I’m going to die,” he added.
Machchhar said he then made another attempt to reach the cockpit door.
“And that’s when I pushed with everything I had, gave everything that I had, and just went for the door and opened it. Thankfully, people were waiting to pounce and took over control,” he said.
The aircraft subsequently landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Captain Machchhar is currently recovering at a hospital in Abu Dhabi. The co-pilot, identified as Hamam Alhamami, is being interrogated by UAE and Israeli authorities.
