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‘I was not going to let others die’, hero pilot who saved over 170 passengers says
The hero pilot who flew the Flydubai aircraft Capt Smit Machchhar said he was determined not to let others die.
The Indian pilot who had been stabbed by his co-pilot was able to summon strength to open the cockpit door to let passengers in.
Speaking from his hospital bed on a video call with the prime minister of India Narendra Modi, Machchhar said he was still being attacked on the floor when he realised the plane was “going down” and he had to do something.
“I was lying on the floor injured but I told myself to go for one last push to open the door from inside.
“Others came in and also played a role. I was of course fighting for my own life but at the same time I knew I was not going to let others die,” he said.
He told Modi he had been flying planes for 17 years and “can tell what is happening to the plane even with my eyes closed”.
“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,” Machchhar added.
The prime minister in his response told him that “his courage, patience and quick decision-making saved the lives of so many people” and that the whole country was proud of him.
The Indian embassy in the UAE on Thursday said Machchhar was in good health and recovering well, as Ambassador Deepak Mittal said he was proud of the captain.
The Israel-bound flight which took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), had 174 passengers on board, including 27 children and more than 100 Israeli nationals. It was later diverted to Saudi Arabia after the distress alert.
Reports say an altercation ensued in the cockpit after the co-pilot tried hijacking the plane from the main pilot in order to crash it.
The situation prompted a distress call, triggering an emergency response in Saudi Arabia.
The co-pilot, an Omani national, who was trying to crash the plane, was eventually overpowered by the passengers while two additional pilots on board managed to land the plane safely.
Flight-tracking site Flightradar24 said the Boeing 737 Max 8 transmitted the emergency code 7700, indicating a general emergency while already in Israeli airspace.
Data from the flight revealed the aircraft had descended from 34,000 feet to about 16,000 feet, which was far below its normal altitude for the route.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the co-pilot stabbed the pilot and “apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board.”
The aircraft which disappeared briefly from radar shortly after transmitting the distress code, later reappeared and established contact with Saudi authorities.
It subsequently landed at an airport in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) from Israel.
Machchhar who has been hailed as a “true hero” by Netanyahu, was taken to a hospital in Tabuk before being airlifted to Abu Dhabi, where he is reported to be in a stable condition.
Netanyahu in an interview with Fox News said investigations suggested the attacker had undergone “Islamist radical indoctrination”.
He said after the passengers subdued the attacker, he started “calling out to the aircrew ‘kill me, kill me’. So, it’s clear he was suicidal, that’s not a question”.
While Netanyahu had suspected Iran in the attack, he said he was not yet certain, as investigations were still ongoing.
