INJURED INDIAN PILOT RECOUNTS HOW HE HELPED SAVE 174 PASSENGERS ON FLYDUBAI FLIGHT
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Agency Report
Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, who was injured during an alleged attack by his co-pilot aboard a Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight, has recounted how he acted to prevent the aircraft from crashing.
Speaking to Prime Minister Narendra Modi from his hospital bed on Friday, Machchhar said he was determined to protect the passengers despite sustaining serious injuries.
“I was trying to save my own life, but I knew I could not let all those people die,” Machchhar said during a phone call with Modi, in a video shared by the Indian Prime Minister on social media.
The Boeing 737, operated by Dubai-based flydubai, was carrying 174 passengers when the confrontation occurred on Wednesday.
Machchhar, who has 17 years of aviation experience, including 11 years as a captain, described the moment he realised the aircraft was losing altitude while he was injured.
“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.
“I was being hit even then, but I just opened the door and everyone came in.”
The pilot said his years of aviation experience helped him understand the situation and respond despite his injuries.
The circumstances surrounding the confrontation remain under investigation. The co-pilot allegedly attacked Machchhar, leaving him wounded and triggering a struggle over control of the aircraft.
Passengers reportedly intervened in the cockpit as the aircraft lost altitude and helped prevent a crash before the plane made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
Modi said Machchhar’s actions helped save hundreds of lives and avert what he described as “a great tragedy.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier credited Machchhar and the passengers with helping prevent a catastrophe.
Passengers reportedly rushed towards the cockpit after the aircraft suddenly plunged, losing about 17,000 feet of altitude within a minute, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24.
AFP
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