🔶 Fly Dubai pilot: I fought to save the passengers

🔶 Fly Dubai pilot: I fought to save the passengers

Smit Mahchchar, the Indian pilot of a Fly Dubai flight, after the co-pilot attacked inside the cockpit, said that in the moments after the attack he fought “to survive” and prevent the plane from crashing.

Mahchchar, who is currently being treated in a hospital in Abu Dhabi, said in a video call with Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, that he had been badly injured by the attack and had fallen to the ground.

With his head bandaged and medical tubes in his nose, he said: “I had many wounds. I was on the ground.”

The pilot cried while recalling the incident and said: “I was fighting for my life. In a moment, I understood that if I didn’t get up, the passengers would lose their lives.”

According to the initial statement of the Saudi Ministry of Interior, the co-pilot attacked the captain with a knife on Wednesday, severely injuring him.

Despite his injuries, Mahchchar was able to open the cockpit door so that the passengers could enter and restrain the attacker.

At the same time, the Boeing 737 quickly lost altitude. Based on FlightRadar24 data, the plane’s altitude dropped from nearly 10,000 meters to about 5,100 meters within about a minute.

Fly Dubai said another flight crew that was on the same flight took control of the aircraft.

The plane was ultimately able to make an emergency landing in the Saudi city of Tabuk. The flight was traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv with 174 passengers, most of whom were Israeli.

After the incident, several political officials described Captain Mahchchar as someone who prevented a catastrophe from occurring. Narendra Modi also called him a “hero.”

Officials from the United Arab Emirates said they will investigate the incident.

Saudi Arabia said the co-pilot, who was identified as an Omani citizen, was transferred to the country on Thursday (October 1 / Mehr 9) along with a “security team from the UAE.”

According to Saudi Arabia’s statement, the initial findings indicate that the co-pilot attacked the plane’s captain.

In Israel, many media outlets and some political officials have described the incident as an attempt to bring down the aircraft, and have referred to it as a failed terrorist attack.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, accused the co-pilot of having Islamist tendencies.

In response to a question about the possibility of Iran’s involvement, he said it was still too early for a definitive assessment and that Israel had not received a specific warning before the incident.