Flydubai pilot recounts cockpit attack by co-pilot

A mid-air security crisis unfolded aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073 as it travelled from Dubai to Tel Aviv early on Wednesday morning. Two and a half hours into the journey, the aircraft plummeted more than 17,000 feet, equivalent to 5,200 metres, after the crew transmitted an emergency signal and switched to squawk code 7500, indicating a hijacking situation.

Captain Smit Machchhar, the Indian pilot in command, detailed the harrowing ordeal during a video call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He explained that he was stabbed and repeatedly attacked by his co-pilot while lying on the cockpit floor. Realising that the aircraft carrying over 170 passengers was sinking rapidly, he knew he had to take decisive action.

Captain Smit recalled mustering his remaining strength despite his injuries to push open the cockpit door from the inside, allowing others to enter and assist in subduing the attacker. Two reserve pilots on board subsequently landed the plane safely at Tabuk Airport in north-western Saudi Arabia at 06:58 local time.

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

Smit Machchhar

Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told media that the attacker was an Omani national who had apparently attempted to crash the aircraft following Islamist radical indoctrination. Captain Machchhar, hailed as a true hero by Netanyahu, was treated at a Tabuk hospital before being airlifted to Abu Dhabi, where his condition has stabilised.