‘I will stay with me until I die’: Smit Machchhar remembers his colleague’s courage amid flydubai horror
Captain Smit Machchhar of the flydubai flight that narrowly escaped a major air tragedy on September 30 has recalled the moment he was hit by the Omani co-pilot inside the cockpit in an alleged attempt to crash the plane over Israeli skies.
“I realized for a moment that I would not survive,” Captain Machchhar, hailed as a hero for averting tragedy, can be heard saying in the trailer for his interview with Sky News Arabia. This is the first time Machchhar is speaking to the English media after the Flydubai incident.
Machchhar recalls timely intervention by a colleague
The brave-hearted Indian pilot also praised his other colleague who took control of the plane after it collapsed to the ground after being hit with a crash axe. The plane plunged nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds.
“My colleague taking control and saving the situation is commendable. This is something I will carry with me until I die,” he said.
Also read: Air France to follow Israel’s ban on airline crews from Pakistan, 30 other countries after Flydubai incident: report
Recovering in hospital weeks after the incident, Machchhar said he was trying to recover from those moments in the cockpit when he was attacked by Omani co-pilot Hammam al-Hammami.
“There was a moment where I said to myself, ‘Smit, do something. You can’t die like that,'” he can be heard saying in the interview. “There was a moment when I realized that if something wasn’t done now, then…” he said, leaving the sentence incomplete.
Fear, screams on the flydubai plane
The rogue co-pilot was then accosted by some of the plane’s passengers who entered the cockpit after the door opened.
Machchhar remembers the panic and screams in the plane and how he was lying on his stomach when his colleagues entered the cockpit with a few passengers.
Also read: “Revenge for Gaza”: Omani co-pilot of Flydubai flight told investigators he wanted to “die as a martyr”
Machchhar was attacked by his Omani co-pilot on flight FZ1073 which was traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30. While he managed to open the cockpit door to let the passengers in, the co-pilot was detained.
Another co-pilot and a dentist provided medical assistance to Machchhar, while a second group of pilots took control and the plane, which had 174 passengers on board, landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Machchhar, who was seriously injured in the attack, was shifted to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where he is undergoing treatment and making a steady recovery.
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