The Indian airline captain, who helped stop an apparent attempt to crash a FlyDubai flight, has revealed new details of tense moments in the cockpit before the attacker was incapacitated in a conversation with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
asserted
attacker → help → Netanyahu
The pilot, captain Smit Machchhar, hailing from the Indian financial hub of Mumbai, said he initially thought the aircraft bound for Israel from the Dubai International Airport had suffered damage.
asserted
aircraft → hail → damage
“I thought something was not right with the aircraft...
asserted
something → think → aircraft
But then the blow kept coming, one after the other.
asserted
blow → keep → other
And that's when I realised that it's not the aircraft; it's the other guy who was in the cockpit with me,” Mr Machchhar told the Israeli PM on a video call on Sunday.
asserted
Machchhar → realise → Sunday
The Indian pilot is now recovering at a hospital in Abu Dhabi.
asserted
pilot → recover → Dhabi
The co-pilot has been identified as 29-year-old Hammam al-Hammami, an Omani national, according to Israeli and Saudi media reports.
uncertain
pilot → identify → reports
Mr Machchhar said he tried to stop the co-pilot initially, but was badly affected by the blows to the back of his head.
asserted
he → say → head
"I did try to stop him, but because of his initial blows, my vision was almost like nothing.
asserted
vision → try → nothing
And I was completely blurred out," the Indian pilot said, adding that he then realised the aircraft was descending sharply.
asserted
aircraft → blur → ?
But this is what I remember out of that time,” he said.
asserted
he → remember → time
The FlyDubai flight FZ1073, carrying 182 people, plunged over 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds during the incident as it flew over Saudi Arabia on the journey from the UAE to Israel, according to the flight-tracking website Flightradar24.
uncertain
it → carry → website
The Indian pilot said the cockpit could be opened only using a code from the outside, but could be more easily opened from the inside.
uncertain
cockpit → say → inside
“From the outside, it could only be opened with a code.
uncertain
it → open → code
My colleagues from outside were trying to put in the code, but the guy was not allowing them to open the code," he said.
asserted
he → try → code
Once I had my hands on the knob, I twisted and opened it,” he said, adding, however, that the Omani co-pilot closed it quickly.
asserted
pilot → have → it
As he was lying on the cockpit floor, he said he realised he had “one last fight” left in him.
asserted
he → lie → him
"And that's when I pushed against everything.
asserted
I → push → everything
I gave everything that I had and just went for the door and opened the door,” Mr Machchhar told Netanyahu.
asserted
Machchhar → give → Netanyahu
Once he opened the door successfully, passengers entered and restrained the attacker.
asserted
passengers → open → attacker
"And thankfully, people were waiting to bounce back, took over the control, and the rest is what, you know," he said.
asserted
he → wait → what
Yaniv Hayoun, one of the passengers who incapacitated the attacker, said he ran to the cockpit as the plane nosedived and “straightened the plane out a bit”.
asserted
plane → incapacitate → plane
On Friday, Mr Machchhar spoke to Indian prime minister Narendra Modi from the Saudi hospital, his head still bandaged and tubes in his nose.
asserted
head → speak → nose
I had fallen down,” he said from the hospital.
asserted
he → fall → hospital
“I was fighting for my life.
asserted
I → fight → life
At one point, I realised that if I didn’t get up … then passengers would lose their lives,” he told Mr Modi.
asserted
he → realise → Modi
The Israeli prime minister invited Mr Machchhar and Mr Modi to Israel’s Independence Day celebrations in May 2027.
uncertain
minister → invite → May
“I want to have Captain Smit and Prime Minister Modi, our great friends.
asserted
I → want → Smit
I really would like them to bear a celebratory flame," Mr Netanyahu said.
asserted
Netanyahu → like → flame
Investigations are still underway to determine the motive and the background of Al-Hammami.
asserted
Investigations → determine → Hammami
The Omani co-pilot apprehended for the incident “completed a distance-learning course in aviation management” from Buckinghamshire New University in 2023, a spokesperson for the university said yesterday.
asserted
spokesperson → apprehend → university
Australian agencies are also reportedly investigating his background, after it emerged that he spent about two years in the country as a student.
uncertain
he → investigate → student
It has also emerged that Mr Al-Hammami was banned from flying by Omani authorities last year due to his radical views.
asserted
Hammami → emerge → views
But it remains unclear if this ban was communicated by Omani officials previously to the airline authorities of Israel and Saudi Arabia.
uncertain
ban → remain → Israel
The Aporia
