‘I had that one last fight left in me’: Braveheart pilot Smit Machchhar on foiling flydubai crash bid

Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, hailed as a hero for preventing his co-pilot from allegedly attempting to crash an Israel-bound flydubai flight, said he refused to give up and used whatever strength he had left to open the cockpit door from inside.

Speaking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call on Saturday, Machchhar said the flight had begun normally, with the co-pilot asking to pray.

He said he was looking towards the front of the cockpit while the co-pilot prayed when, around four or five minutes later, he was struck hard on the back of his head.


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"Suddenly, after I think I would say about four or five minutes, there was a big blow to the back of my head. My first thought was that there was a catastrophic damage to the aircraft and something is not right," Machchhar said.

As the blows continued, he realised that the attack was coming from the co-pilot rather than from a problem with the aircraft.

Machchhar said the initial assault left his vision blurred as he tried to stop the co-pilot. He then realised that the aircraft was rapidly descending.

He recalled managing to open the cockpit door once, only for the co-pilot to close it again. Machchhar said he was then lying on the cockpit floor as he heard the aircraft's whooshing sound and passengers screaming.

Also Read: ‘He was praying, then came big blow to my head’: Smit Machchhar recalls flydubai horror

"I had that one last fight left in me. Call it personal or call it for the people, but I thought that if I don't do it, I am going to die," he said.

Machchhar said he then pushed himself towards the door and managed to open it, allowing colleagues outside to take control of the situation.

He explained that the cockpit door has a knob on the inside and can otherwise be opened from outside only through a code. According to Machchhar, colleagues outside were entering the code, but the co-pilot was preventing the door from opening.

"The only way to open the door was to reach (for) the knob to twist it open. It was a short quick twist but once I had my hands on the knob, I guess I twisted it and opened it," he said.

Media reports have identified the co-pilot as Omani citizen Hamam al-Hammami, who allegedly attacked Machchhar with a crash axe, an emergency tool normally kept in the cockpit.

(With PTI inputs)