Heroic Flydubai Pilot Recounts Dramatic Cockpit Stabbing in Video Call with Indian PM Modi

Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, currently recovering in a hospital in the United Arab Emirates, has shared a harrowing public account of how he managed to unlock the cockpit door and allow passengers to intervene during an alleged attempt by his co-pilot to crash a Flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv.

Speaking from a hospital bed in Abu Dhabi during a video call on Friday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Machchhar recalled realizing the aircraft was plummeting as he lay injured on the floor. "I had suffered so many injuries that I had collapsed. At that time, I could feel that the aircraft was going down. I knew this was the last push, that the door was right there," he recounted in a nearly 10-minute video shared on the prime minister's social media platforms. He added, "I was being hit even then, but I just opened the door and everyone came in."

Machchhar, boasting 17 years of aviation experience including 11 as a captain, credited his background with helping him comprehend the unfolding crisis despite his wounds. He shared with Narendra Modi that he recited a Hindu devotional prayer throughout the ordeal, noting, "I know God himself saved me" during the emotional conversation with the prime minister, who shares the same home state of Gujarat.

Narendra Modi lauded Machchhar's extraordinary courage, stating that his quick thinking preserved lives and upheld the reputation of Indian pilots. Machchhar enabled passengers and crew to subdue the co-pilot, allowing a second pair of Flydubai pilots to assume control and safely land the aircraft in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Carrying 174 individuals, the Flydubai flight had sharply descended roughly 17,000 feet (5,180 meters) before regaining stability.

In the wake of the event, UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash categorized the incident as a "terrorist act." Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted that the co-pilot experienced "Islamist radical indoctrination" and exhibited "suicidal" tendencies. US President Donald Trump cautioned that Iran would face severe consequences if tied to the attack, and the United Arab Emirates announced an official investigation into the matter.