The Indian pilot who was attacked during a FlyDubai flight this week said on Friday that he opened the cockpit door despite grievous injuries, allowing passengers and crew members to overpower the co-pilot who had assailed him.
“I was fighting for my life,” Capt. Smit Machchhar said on a video call from his hospital bed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, in his first public remarks since the attack. Video of their conversation was released by the Indian government.
“I was so badly hurt that I had fallen to the ground,” said Captain Machchhar. “But I knew I had to act,” he added. “I could feel the aircraft was going down.”
The attack, on a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv carrying about 170 passengers, sent the aircraft into a terrifying plunge. Israeli officials have said the co-pilot appeared to have tried to crash the plane after stabbing Captain Machchhar, although investigators are still trying to understand the assailant’s motives and how the attack unfolded. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said the co-pilot had undergone “Islamist radical indoctrination” but did not elaborate.
Passengers were able to overpower the attacker, while two people aboard with flying experience helped land the plane in Saudi Arabia.
Captain Machchhar, who said he had 17 years of flying experience, including 11 as a captain, said he knew instinctively what was happening to the aircraft, even as he lay injured on the cockpit floor. The Boeing 737 Max 8 he was flying plummeted more than 16,000 feet in 30 seconds during the attack.
Captain Machchhar told Mr. Modi that he recalled telling himself: “Smit, this is the last push, just do it. The door is right there.”
“I was doing it to save myself,” he said, “but I also knew I couldn’t let all of them die.”
Captain Machchhar, who has been hospitalized in Saudi Arabia, told Mr. Modi that he was receiving good medical care.
The episode has made him a hero in India.
“Your courage and presence of mind — you made a decision within a fraction of a second, and saved so many lives,” Mr. Modi told the captain during their conversation. “You have made the entire country proud.”
Mr. Modi’s office put out the video of the split-screen conversation on a day of nationwide protests in India, including in the capital, New Delhi. Protesters are demanding the resignation of the country’s chief election officer for trying to rig voter rolls in the favor of Mr. Modi’s party.
Captain Machchhar grew up in Mumbai and entered aviation almost by accident after attending a seminar on flying. He later became a captain and a trainer of aspiring pilots. In a podcast interview last year, he described flying as something he felt “blessed” to do and emphasized the importance of pilots being rested and prepared to perform under pressure.
Suhasini Raj contributed reporting.
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