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The pilot credited with helping prevent a suspected midair catastrophe aboard a Flydubai flight has spoken of how he could not “let everybody else die,” as he endured serious injuries to fend off an attack by his co-pilot.
Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian pilot with more than a decade of commercial aviation experience was at the controls of Flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday when, according to Israeli officials and passenger accounts, a violent confrontation erupted in the cockpit.
Israeli authorities allege the aircraft's co-pilot attacked the captain in an apparent attempt to seize control of the Boeing 737 MAX 8, triggering a dramatic emergency that saw the jet lose thousands of feet in altitude before eventually diverting to Saudi Arabia.
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Speaking from his hospital bed in Abu Dhabi, where he is recovering, he told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a videocall "I was fighting for my life,” and that he was so seriously wounded, "I was thinking what if I don’t get up?”
Images show blood splashed across the cockpit and Machchhar lying on the floor, looking in pain with his face partially covered with a mask.
Machchhar described how he realized the plane was going down. "I knew in that moment—one last push, Smit! Just do it. The door is right there,” he said adding that this took place while he was being beaten up.
“And then I just opened it… and then everybody came,” he said, describing how other passengers rushed into the cockpit and restrained his attacker.
“I was doing this for my life, but at the same time, I knew that I couldn’t let everybody else die," he added in the clip broadcast by CNN.
Modi said that Machchhar's “courage, patience and quick thinking… saved the lives of so many people," in sentiments echoed by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Despite being stabbed and seriously injured, he fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door, and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker, preventing a catastrophic mid-air disaster,” Netanyahu said. “He saved the lives of 174 people."
The suspect was eventually subdued, and two qualified pilots who were traveling as passengers reportedly helped stabilize the aircraft and guide it to a safe landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Flydubai has since announced that all flights to and from Israel will be suspended amid the investigation into the incident.
“The safety and wellbeing of our passengers, crew and operations remain our highest priority. This temporary suspension will allow the relevant authorities to continue their work and establish all the facts surrounding the incident,” a Flydubai spokesperson said in a statement.
What Happened on the Diverted Dubai Flight?
One pilot stabbed another at the controls of a Flydubai flight to Tel Aviv on Wednesday, sending the aircraft plunging thousands of feet before passengers and crew intervened to regain control of the plane.
The flight, carrying more than 170 passengers and crew members, left Dubai roughly two and a half hours earlier, when air traffic control received a distress call and landing request at 8:44 a.m. local time, according to Cluster2 Airports, which manages several Saudi airports, including Tabuk.
According to Netanyahu, the captain and first officer had been fighting in the cockpit after one stabbed the other and attempted to crash the aircraft. The plane rapidly lost altitude, dropping from about 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet in roughly a minute.
“We’re going to die,” passenger Naama Bershadski recalled, AP reported.
Passengers Intervene and Emergency Landing
Several passengers pushed their way into the cockpit to intervene amid the terrifying fall, including Yaniv Hayoun. He told Netanyahu that he grabbed the controls as they tried to subdue the alleged attacker.
“The door apparently wasn’t locked, and we managed to open it somehow,” Hayoun told journalists. “What made it difficult for us was the [other] pilot himself. He had been stabbed and was on the other side of the door.”
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Netanyahu later said that Machchhar had somehow managed to open the cockpit door despite being "seriously injured.”
Another passenger, Dr. Shota Musayev, a dentist, said he treated Machchhar for severe wounds. According to Flydubai, on-duty crew members secured the plane and diverted it to Tabuk Airport.
Later Wednesday at Ben-Gurion International Airport, Netanyahu met with Hayoun, whose shirt and socks were seen bloodied in photos from the meeting.
Flydubai said all passengers and crew were safe and accounted for and that it had deployed two replacement aircraft to Tabuk to transport them onward.
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Israel's President, Isaac Herzog, praised five passengers on Thursday for displaying "extraordinary heroism" while helping to overpower the suspected hijacker. Herzog said Musayev, Yaniv Hayoun, Zvika Manes, Tali Manes and Asaf Rajuan reacted instantly.
"At a time when the lives of so many people were in danger, you acted without hesitation, with courage, resourcefulness, and extraordinary mutual responsibility," Herzog said in a statement. "You put yourselves at risk to save others and prevented a terrible disaster. Today, the whole world saw the beautiful and courageous face of Israeli society. I am proud of you, and I thank you on behalf of the State of Israel."
Herzog said he will recommend the five passengers receive the nation’s highest civilian award for heroism.
"In addition, I extend my gratitude and deep appreciation, on behalf of the State of Israel, to the Indian pilot, Captain Smit Machchhar, whose determination and actions made it possible to subdue the attacker and saved many lives," Herzog said.
Musayev, meanwhile, downplayed his actions during a conversation with Herzog, according to Thursday's statement released by his office.
"Everyone who was there and came near the cockpit was part of it," he said. "We were all heroes. All the passengers were heroes. We supported one another on the plane and also when we arrived in Saudi Arabia, and we took care of each other as we should. It shows our strength as a people."
What Caused the Incident?
The motive behind the incident remains unclear.
“At this early stage, the underlying reasons and motives behind this event are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation,” a Flydubai spokesperson said.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, President Donald Trump said U.S. officials were examining whether the co-pilot had links to Iran. Asked if he had been briefed on whether the pilot was connected to Iran, Trump replied: "We're working on it right now. They're being very open with us. I would say the answer, based on what I'm hearing, is yes. But we're working on it right now."
Authorities are investigating how the co-pilot, reportedly an Omani national, was cleared to operate the Dubai-to-Tel Aviv route. The probe is examining whether protocols governing foreign flight crews were properly followed, given Oman does not maintain full diplomatic relations with Israel.
Reports from Israeli media indicate the captain later underwent surgery for injuries sustained during the incident, while investigators in Saudi Arabia, Israel and the United Arab Emirates continue to examine exactly what happened on board.
The alleged involvement of a flight crew member makes the incident particularly unusual, according to aviation security expert Dave Komendat, a former chief security officer at Boeing.
“What stands out from a security perspective is that the threat seems to have originated from inside the cockpit and involved a member of the crew,” Komendat told Newsweek.
As the investigation continues, he said airlines and regulators are likely to closely examine hiring and monitoring procedures.
“Airlines will be looking at their vetting and internal monitoring processes to see if there was a weak spot or if this incident was due to a gap in protocol,” Komendat said.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jason Lemon, Sam Wilson, Anna Commander and Cristina Diciu.
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