(Captain Smit Machchhar Photo Credit: The Guardian)
Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, who was wounded in an alleged attack by his co-pilot on a Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight, says he acted to protect the passengers.
He told Prime Minister Narendra Modi this on Friday.
In a video Modi posted on social media, Machchhar spoke from his hospital bed and said he was trying to save his own life but knew he could not let all those people die.
The Boeing 737, operated by Dubai-based flydubai, was carrying 174 passengers when the fight broke out on Wednesday.
Machchhar has 17 years of flying experience, 11 of them as a captain.
He said he had collapsed from his injuries when he felt the plane going down.
He knew it was the last push and the door was right there.
Even while being hit, he said, he opened the door and everyone came in.
He said his years in the air helped him understand what was happening even while injured.
The cause of the fight is still under investigation.
The co-pilot allegedly attacked Machchhar, leaving him hurt and setting off a struggle for control of the plane.
Passengers helped redirect the aircraft and stop it from crashing, and it made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
Modi said Machchhar’s actions helped save hundreds of lives and avoid a great tragedy.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier praised Machchhar and the passengers for preventing a disaster.
Passengers said they rushed the cockpit and fought for control after the plane suddenly dropped.
According to Flightradar24, it lost about 17,000 feet in a minute.
(Narendra Modi (R) making a video call with flydubai pilot Smit Machchhar. Photo by Vanguard News)
