Wounded flydubai captain describes opening cockpit door to let pᴀssengers stop attack

Speaking from his hospital bed during a video call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the heavily bandaged captain explained how he forced himself to act despite his injuries.

“I was lying on the floor injured but I told myself to go for one last push to open the door from inside,” he said.

“Others came in and also played a role [in controlling the situation].

“I was of course fighting for my own life but at the same time I knew I was not going to let others die.”

The aircraft subsequently landed safely in Saudi Arabia. Mr Modi has publicly praised Machchhar’s courage and said India was praying for his recovery.

Mr Machchhar said he was determined to recover.

“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.”

‘We hired a terrorist’

Newly released footage has shown the bloodied captain of the Israel-bound flydubai flight lying outside the cockpit, saying his co-pilot “hit me so many times”.

Captain Smit Machchhar, who is being celebrated around the world as a hero, could be heard saying he was unable to squeeze his hand shut as pᴀssengers and crew scrambled for help.

The video, aired by Israel’s Channel 12 and reported by The Times of Israel, captured the chaotic aftermath of the alleged cockpit attack.

“He tried to crash the plane,” one person said, while others shouted “take him out” and order pᴀssengers to “sit down”.

Repeated calls for a doctor brought Israeli dentist Dr SH๏τa Musayev rushing forward. Someone then asked in Hebrew whether another pilot was aboard and received an affirmative response.

The footage also showed the injured alleged attacker, his uniform bloodied, surrounded by crew.

After the emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, medics attend to Mr Machchhar outside the aircraft.

As the recording ended, an unidentified voice could be heard saying: “We’ll laugh about this one day”.

The attacker was “someone characterised by very strange behaviour, especially around religious observances that were out of step with his surroundings,” a fellow pilot told Israeli journalist, Yosef Yisrael for the nation’s Channel 16 station.

“For instance, he used to pray a lot, and would not shake hands with women,” Mr Yisrael relayed.

The colleague then allegedly claimed flydubai had “betrayed” Israel by hiring the pilot.

“There is no other way to put it, we hired the services of a terrorist and nearly caused the deaths of 180 people,” the co-worker reportedly told the journalist.

“Usually only Emiratis (UAE citizens) fly to Israel. It is not clear how he got on this flight.”

It’s not clear if only UAE citizens fly UAE aircraft to Israel.

‘False flag conspiracy theories’ slammed by embᴀssy

It comes as the Israeli embᴀssy in Canberra slammed a twisted online theory which recast those who stopped a mid-air terror plot on a recent flydubai flight as the villains.

In a statement issued on Friday morning, October 2, the embᴀssy said the incident was a “stark reminder” of terrorism and condemned what it saw as “anti-Semitic ‘false flag’ conspiracy theories circulating online, which recast victims as perpetrators”.

“Israelis, Emiratis and an Indian captain stood together and refused to let terror win. We are grateful that everyone has made it to Israel safely, and we wish Captain Machchhar a full and speedy recovery,” the embᴀssy said.

It repeated an ᴀssessment by the Israeli government that the attacker “underwent Islamist radical indoctrination and that he was very likely going to down the plane”.

“The attack targeted not only Israelis, but the peace between Israel and the United Arab Emirates under the Abraham Accords, which made this direct flight possible. It confirmed that Israel and the UAE (United Arab Emirates) are victims of the same radical elements, which try to derail peace and stability,” the statement read.

“The heroism of a few prevented a catastrophe. Captain Smit Machchhar of India, though badly wounded, fought back and unlocked the cockpit door. Israeli pᴀssengers overpowered the attacker, and two off-duty pilots landed the aircraft safely. Israelis and Emiratis stood shoulder to shoulder in the face of terror, ensuring it did not prevail.

“Within hours, the foreign ministers of Israel and the UAE spoke and agreed to deepen their partnership. It proved a lesson everyone should hear: those who seek to destroy peace and normalisation will not determine the future of our region.”

The embᴀssy also thanked Saudi Arabia for sheltering the pᴀssengers and enabling their onward journey.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacker who stabbed his fellow co-pilot on the flydubai flight to Tel Aviv had undergone “Islamist radical indoctrination”.

The commercial liner plunged 17,000ft (5200m) two hours into its journey on Wednesday local time before pᴀssengers and crew overpowered the attacker and retook control to land safely.

Mr Netanyahu said initial investigations suggested it was “very likely” the attacker, who he said was an Omani national, was “going to down the plane”.

The Israeli leader said the attacker, once subdued, yelled “kill me, kill me” to crew, making it “clear he was suicidal”.

“And with all the pᴀssengers in there, and if you couple that with what I just told you about the Islamist tendencies, that radicalisation that were found in his background, I think… that’ll give us a pretty good clue”.

Mr Netanyahu stressed he did not want to draw any firm conclusions on a motive until investigations were completed.

Meanwhile, the UAE state news agency said internal probes are yet to determine if the incident was linked to any terrorist activity or purpose, according to the BBC.

UAE officials have claimed jurisdiction over the incident because the plane is registered there and flies under its flag.

The Interior Ministry of Saudi Arabia – where the plane made an emergency landing – said both the pilot and co-pilot have been sent back to the UAE on Thursday morning after medical teams cleared them.

US President Donald Trump and UAE officials have suggested Iran may be responsible for the incident but did not definitively blame Tehran.

Mr Trump told reporters on Thursday Iran would be “hit very hard” if it was found to have been involved in the attack.

Mr Netanyahu earlier credited the flydubai pilot, Mr Machchhar, as well as pᴀssengers, with averting catastrophe, after a co-pilot allegedly stabbed him and tried to crash the plane.

Mr Netanyahu said Israel would look at how the Omani pilot was able to work on a flight to the country.

“We have constraints that say that you can’t have pilots from countries that don’t have diplomatic relations with Israel. Obviously he was able to go through that. How do we make sure that we screen pilots in advance?” Mr Netanyahu told Fox News.

He said the pilots who collected pᴀssengers from Saudi Arabia after the incident had undergone background checks.

Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, on the far right of Israeli politics, called it a “jihadist” attack, while defence minister Israel Katz also described the incident as “an attempted jihadist terror attack”.

Flydubai has said all the pᴀssengers – of whom 166 out of 174 were Israeli, according to media reports – were safe, but that the reasons for the altercation were unknown.

He later hailed the wounded pilot, Mr Machchhar, “for his extraordinary bravery”.

The Indian ambᴀssador to the United Arab Emirates met with the wounded captain, with the embᴀssy saying he was in “good health and recovering well”.

flydubai has since suspended flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv as it carried out its own investigation into the incident.