Captain Smit Machchhar has recounted the moments he says he realised his co-pilot was attacking him aboard flydubai flight FZ1073, describing how he eventually managed to open the cockpit door despite his injuries.
Speaking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone on Saturday, the Indian pilot said the co-pilot had been praying before the attack began. Machchhar said he had looked away deliberately, out of respect.
A few minutes later, he recalled feeling a heavy blow to the back of his head.
“I thought something had happened to the aircraft,” Machchhar told Netanyahu, according to an account of the conversation. But as the blows continued, he said he realised the danger was coming from the other person in the cockpit.
“That’s when I realised that it’s not the aircraft, it’s the other guy who is in the cockpit with me,” he said.
Machchhar said he was eventually on the cockpit floor and realised the aircraft was descending. His account suggests that he was badly disoriented and struggling to see clearly as he tried to understand what was happening.
He said he knew the cockpit door was nearby and, despite his injuries, managed to reach and open it. People outside then entered the cockpit and helped restrain the co-pilot, according to Machchhar's account.
“I had that one last fight left in me,” he said. “I did it because if I didn't do it, I was going to die.”
The incident occurred on September 30 aboard FZ1073, a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv carrying 174 people. The Boeing 737-8 made an emergency diversion to Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Airport in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after the incident.
Flight-tracking data cited by news agency Reuters showed the aircraft losing about 16,625 feet in just over 30 seconds while flying over Saudi Arabia.
The UAE has since given its own account of what happened. Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said an investigation had found that the co-pilot attacked Machchhar with a crash axe and attempted to take control of the aircraft's flight controls. The UAE described it as an attempted “terrorist act”.
However, the investigation is still continuing, with authorities looking into the circumstances of the incident, the motive and whether there were any links to others. The UAE has also said technical examinations and analysis of physical and digital evidence are ongoing.
The co-pilot has been identified by several media reports as Omani national Hamam al-Hammami. Reuters said the name came from a source with direct knowledge of the matter and another source briefed on the investigation, while UAE authorities had not publicly confirmed his identity.
There have also been reports about his previous aviation career. The Wall Street Journal reported that he had previously been barred from flying in Oman over concerns about his ideological views. CNN separately reported that he had been removed from flight training over concerns about his views. Those claims have not been established by the UAE investigation and should not be treated as confirmed findings.
Questions over his background have emerged alongside the investigation into the motive for the attack. The UAE has not publicly said what motivated the co-pilot or whether he was acting alone.
Machchhar's account came a day after he spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi from his hospital bed in Abu Dhabi. In that conversation, he described being injured, realising the aircraft was going down and eventually opening the cockpit door so that others could intervene.
Machchhar is recovering in the UAE. The Indian Embassy said on Saturday that he was receiving medical care and was “recovering well”.
The UAE-led investigation into the FZ1073 incident is continuing.