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‘You can't die like this’: flydubai pilot recalls attack in first interview

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Cite

The Straits Times. (2026, October 17). ‘You can't die like this’: flydubai pilot recalls attack in first interview. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/world/you-cant-die-like-this-flydubai-pilot-recalls-attack-in-first-interview

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Straits Times · collected 2026-10-17 · by The Straits Times
Content note This article describes violence described in detail.

Quick Summary

Indian pilot Smit Machchhar recounts for Sky News Arabia the traumatic incident from September when his co-pilot attacked him with an axe on a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv, attempting to crash the plane. During the attack, Machchhar struggled to open the cockpit door and regain control while severely injured; another pilot who was aboard intervened and subdued the attacker, averting disaster and ensuring the aircraft made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
Written by AI on 2026-10-17, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Smit Machchhar, the captain of Flydubai Flight 1073, has spoken publicly for the first time about the September 30 incident where his co-pilot attacked him with an axe in a suicide attempt. Machchhar, severely wounded and lying on the cockpit floor, managed to open the door so another pilot aboard could enter and help regain control of the plane, which safely landed in Saudi Arabia. The attack occurred during the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, and Emirati authorities have accused co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami of trying to crash the aircraft into Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv as a "suicide attack." Machchhar described blocking axe blows, struggling to open the cockpit door, and losing vision temporarily. Passengers and crew members rushed forward to subdue the attacker, with two other Flydubai pilots traveling as passengers assisting in landing the plane safely.

Written for “Flydubai Pilot Describes Attack” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 6 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Flydubai Pilot Describes Attack
Crime & Law · 7 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 11% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Guardian
Hedges 1 of 17 claims Outlet record 66/100
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 4 of 27 claims Outlet record 68/100
NBC News
Outlet record 60/100
Washington Examiner
Hedges 2 of 7 claims Outlet record 70/100
New York Post
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 3 of 24 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A discusses Mike Huckabee's commentary on a flydubai hijacking incident, while Article B is an interview with the captain of that flight discussing his experience during the actual attack. While both articles refer to the same general incident, they describe different aspects and specific occurrences.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
18
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
11%
2 of 18 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
The Straits Times's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
7
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-17 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Straits Times · 4032 article(s) · 5 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 5 correction(s)

Who wrote this

The Straits Times
2534 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Also by The Straits Times
Zelenskiy says he will head to Turkey for talks
2026-10-30 · The Straits Times
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 2534 articles by The Straits Times →

Topics

DUBAI Indian Sky News Arabia Tel Aviv flydubai

Subjects

Machchhar PERSON · 5× Tel Aviv GPE · 2× flydubai ORG · 2× DUBAI GPE · 1× Emirati NORP · 1× Indian NORP · 1× Omani NORP · 1× Sky News Arabia ORG · 1× Smit Machchhar PERSON · 1× UAE GPE · 1×

Narrative

The prosecutor found that the other pilot on board, having seen the cockpit door open and close “in an unusual manner”, entered the flight deck and with the help of another crew member and passengers, subdued the co-pilot and regained control of the aircraft.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-17
🔮 Machchhar recalled struggling to open the cockpit door so another pilot who was travelling on board could get inside.
2026-10-17 · The Straits Times
‘You can't die like this’: flydubai pilot recalls attack in first interview · assertive framing

Claims (18 extracted, 2 hedged)

‘You can't die like this’: flydubai pilot recalls attack in first interview DUBAI – asserted
pilot → die → interview
The captain of a flydubai flight whose co-pilot attacked him with an axe in an alleged bid to bring down the plane said one thought kept running through his head as the harrowing ordeal unfolded: “You can’t die like this.” asserted
You → attack → this
Indian pilot Smit Machchhar recounted the “traumatic” experience to Sky News Arabia in his first interview since the incident late in September in which he, passengers and other crew members were credited with averting disaster on the Tel Aviv-bound flight. asserted
he → recount → flight
With his head and one hand bandaged and glasses perched on his nose, Machchhar spoke from his hospital bed in the UAE. asserted
Machchhar → bandage → UAE
“My vision was restricted to a few inches,” said the pilot, describing the effect of being struck in the back of the head with an emergency axe by his co-pilot, who had positioned himself behind Machchhar’s seat. asserted
who → restrict → seat
At first thinking that a part of the airplane’s ceiling had come loose, he then received several more blows and was wounded in the hand as he tried to shield himself. asserted
he → think → himself
Machchhar recalled struggling to open the cockpit door so another pilot who was travelling on board could get inside. uncertain
who → recall → board
“So I was screaming his name, and I was trying because the switch that was very close to me to open the door, I was trying to just get help in,” he said. asserted
he → scream → help
“But I remember being able to open the door,” he went on, only for it to shut again. asserted
it → remember → door
“And at that point, I felt all the blood, you know, everything rushing down, my energy, everything, I was just, I was barely staying in consciousness.” asserted
I → feel → consciousness
“Soon after that, that was the time when I heard the engine sounds going down. asserted
sounds → hear → that
And then immediately after that I felt the aircraft going into a dive.” asserted
aircraft → feel → dive
According to findings released by the Emirati attorney general, Machchhar’s 29-year-old Omani co-pilot had planned to use the plane to carry out a suicide attack on the passenger terminal at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, inspired by the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York. uncertain
pilot → accord → York
He claimed to have acted alone, something investigators are still working to verify. asserted
investigators → claim → ?
The prosecutor found that the other pilot on board, having seen the cockpit door open and close “in an unusual manner”, entered the flight deck and with the help of another crew member and passengers, subdued the co-pilot and regained control of the aircraft. asserted
door → find → aircraft
The jet, which plunged violently during the fray, was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. asserted
which → plunge → Arabia
Machchhar said the way his colleague was able to intervene and safely land the plane was “commendable”. asserted
colleague → say → plane
“It’s something that I’ll keep with me till I die.” asserted
I → ’ → me
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