The captain of the FlyDubai plane who was allegedly attacked by his co-pilot has recounted to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi how he summoned his strength to open the cockpit door while his colleague was raining blows on him with the plane’s emergency crash axe.
Speaking to Modi on a video call from his hospital bed in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, Machchhar said he had fallen on the cockpit floor, but realized he had to get up as he felt the aircraft dive out of control.
“I was fighting for my life,” he told Modi. “But there was a moment when I realized – because I had fallen and sustained so many injuries, that I was lying on the ground – that if I didn’t get up ... I just opened it, sir; the others arrived.”
“One last push, Smit. Do it,” Machchhar recalled telling himself. “The door is right there.”
The pilot, with 17 years of flying experience, added that the passengers and crew who intervened played an equally important role in securing the aircraft.
FlyDubai FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv was carrying 174 passengers and eight crew members when the co-pilot allegedly attacked Machchhar on Wednesday. The aircraft plunged around 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds with no one at the controls. After the attacker was overpowered, two other FlyDubai pilots traveling aboard took the controls and the plane made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Modi praised the captain’s courage and presence of mind, saying he had prioritized the passengers’ lives despite fighting for his own. He told Machchhar that people across India were praying for his recovery and looking forward to welcoming him home.
The captain became emotional as he recalled his ordeal and apologized to the prime minister for tearing up. But Modi comforted him, “If you can’t get emotional in front of me, where else can you?”
Machchhar said he had recited the Hanuman Chalisa, a Hindu devotional hymn, during the emergency and continued to turn to prayer whenever he experienced pain. He also spoke about his two-year-old son, who joins him during morning prayers, and the importance of maintaining Indian cultural traditions while living abroad.
Modi said he had spoken with Machchhar’s parents and wife and praised their composure. The captain thanked Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for his medical care.
Preliminary Saudi investigations have indicated that the co-pilot assaulted the captain, and both men were injured in the scuffle that followed. UAE authorities are investigating the circumstances and motive behind the incident, including whether it was linked to terrorism.