Flydubai pilot recounts cockpit stabbing in call with Indian PM Modi

Smit Machchhar recalls mid-air disaster after co-pilot’s attack on flydubai flight to Tel Aviv.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks via video call with Flydubai pilot Smit Machchhar, who is recovering in a hospital in the United Arab Emirates [Handout/Office of the Indian Prime Minister via AFP]

Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, who was stabbed by his co-pilot in an alleged attempt to crash a Flydubai flight to Tel Aviv, has shared a public account of how he managed to open the cockpit door and let passengers take control of the plane despite his injuries.

Speaking on Friday from a hospital bed in Abu Dhabi via video call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Machchhar said that he knew the aircraft was going down as he lay bleeding on the floor.

list 1 of 3 Flydubai stabbing: How safe are planes if a pilot turns violent?

list 2 of 3 Who is Capt. Smit, Machchhar, the pilot of the Flydubai flight?

list 3 of 3 Flydubai co-pilot ‘assaulted’ captain before landing: Initial Saudi probe

“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 said in a nearly 10-minute video released on the prime minister’s social media channels.

He added: “I was being hit even then, but I just opened the door and everyone came in.”

Machchhar, who has 17 years of aviation experience, including 11 as a captain, said that experience helped him grasp what was happening even while wounded.

He told Modi he had recited a Hindu devotional prayer during the ordeal.

“I know God himself saved me,” he said, in an emotional exchange with Modi, who is from the same home state of Gujarat.

Modi praised Machchhar’s bravery, saying his presence of mind had saved lives and the reputation of Indian pilots.

Machchhar said he allowed passengers and crew to overpower the co-pilot and let a second pair of Flydubai pilots take control and land the plane in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

The Flydubai flight was carrying 174 people as it briefly plunged around 17,000 feet (5,180 metres) before it was brought back under control.

UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash has called the incident a “terrorist act”, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the co-pilot had undergone “Islamist radical indoctrination” and appeared “suicidal”.

US President Donald Trump has warned that Iran would be “hit very hard” if found to be linked to the attack.

The United Arab Emirates has said it will launch an investigation into the incident.

斯密特·马赫查尔回忆起在迪拜航空飞往特拉维夫的航班上，副驾驶发动袭击后发生的空中灾难。

印度总理纳伦德拉·莫迪与正在阿联酋一家医院接受治疗的迪拜航空飞行员斯米特·马赫查尔进行视频通话。[图片由印度总理办公室通过法新社提供]

印度飞行员斯米特·马赫查尔 (Smit Machchhar) 在一次据称企图坠毁迪拜航空飞往特拉维夫的航班的事件中被副驾驶刺伤。他公开讲述了自己如何在受伤的情况下打开驾驶舱门，让乘客控制飞机。

周五，马赫查尔在阿布扎比的一家医院病床上通过视频通话与印度总理纳伦德拉·莫迪交谈时表示，当他躺在地板上流血时，他就知道飞机要坠毁了。

列表 1/3：Flydubai 刺伤事件：如果飞行员变得暴力，飞机还安全吗？

列表 2/3：Flydubai 航班的飞行员 Smit Machchhar 上尉是谁？

沙特初步调查显示，迪拜航空副驾驶在着陆前“袭击”机长（共3起案件，此为第3起）。

“我当时伤势严重，已经昏倒了。那时，我感觉飞机正在坠落。我知道这是最后的挣扎，舱门就在那里，”他在总理社交媒体账号上发布的一段近10分钟的视频中说道。

他补充道：“当时我正被人殴打，但我还是打开了门，大家都进来了。”

拥有 17 年航空经验（其中 11 年担任机长）的马赫查尔表示，这些经验帮助他即使在受伤时也能理解正在发生的事情。

他告诉莫迪，在遭受磨难期间，他一直在念诵印度教的虔诚祈祷文。

“我知道是上帝救了我，”他在与莫迪的动情交流中说道，莫迪与他来自同一个家乡古吉拉特邦。

莫迪赞扬了马赫查尔的英勇行为，称他的临危不惧挽救了生命，也维护了印度飞行员的声誉。

马赫查尔表示，他允许乘客和机组人员制服副驾驶，让第二组迪拜航空的飞行员接管飞机，并将飞机降落在沙特阿拉伯塔布克。

Flydubai 航班载有 174 人，在短暂下降约 17,000 英尺（5,180 米）后被控制住。

阿联酋总统顾问安瓦尔·加尔加什称该事件为“恐怖主义行为”，而以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡表示，副驾驶曾接受过“伊斯兰极端主义灌输”，并且似乎有“自杀倾向”。

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普警告说，如果发现伊朗与此次袭击有关，将“受到非常严厉的打击”。

阿联酋方面表示将对此事展开调查。